Storms Rise Again

As the battle with Nalan Yanran came to an end, Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran settled their personal affairs, and Nalan Yanran apologized to Xiao Yan for what had happened back then.

The Three-Year Agreement had ended, but Xiao Yan did not leave, because there was still another three-year agreement to resolve.

Under Xiao Yan's hate-filled gaze, Huo Xuan leaped down from the giant tree and arrived in the square. Huo Xuan paid no attention to Xiao Yan's resentful stare and merely said to those around him, "I have some personal business to settle with this Xiao Yan. Everyone else, leave immediately!"

Hearing this, the Yun Lan Sect elders did not dare delay and hurriedly evacuated the disciples. They knew exactly how strong the man before them was. If they were caught up in the fight, they would either die or be crippled.

"You should restore your Dou Qi first. Otherwise, you might not even be able to withstand a single move from me," Huo Xuan said to Xiao Yan.

At this, Xiao Yan took several Qi Recovery Pills from his Storage Ring and stuffed them into his mouth. He quickly assumed a cultivation posture and entered a meditative state to recover his Dou Qi.

After gradually restoring himself to peak condition, Xiao Yan slowly rose to his feet and stared at Huo Xuan.

"How do you want this match to go?" Huo Xuan asked.

"Life and death, each according to fate! Make your move!" Xiao Yan said.

Huo Xuan smiled disdainfully. "You make the first move. Otherwise, once I act, you will not even have a chance to fight back."

Eight Extremes Collapse!

The Dou Qi within Xiao Yan's body surged rapidly, and the force contained within his fist soared once more as he threw a fierce punch at Huo Xuan.

Seeing this, Huo Xuan smiled faintly and circulated his Dou Qi, directly receiving Xiao Yan's Eight Extremes Collapse head-on.

Arrogant! Xiao Yan thought. Trying to take Eight Extremes Collapse head-on without using a Dou Technique? This strike will definitely make Huo Xuan pay the price.

Unfortunately, the one who paid the price was not Huo Xuan.

Boom!

Huo Xuan blasted Xiao Yan away. Not only that, Xiao Yan's arm had nearly been broken. Even though his body had been tempered countless times, how could a Great Dou Shi possibly withstand an attack from a peak Dou Emperor?

"Xiao Yan, is this all the strength you have? If this continues, you will lose very soon."

"Lose? No! I won't lose!"

A trace of madness appeared in Xiao Yan's eyes. "No! I won't lose! I can't lose!"

After saying that, Xiao Yan suddenly took a pale purple pill from his Storage Ring and tossed it into his mouth. He chewed it slightly, then opened his mouth and expelled a ball of purple flame—the beast flame of the Amethyst Crystal Winged Lion King.

Then Xiao Yan slowly raised both palms and summoned two different flames: the Wind Fury Dragon Flame and the Child Flame of the Bone Chilling Flame, the two flames he currently possessed.

The earthy yellow, bone white, and purple flames slowly merged together under Xiao Yan's control.

As the three flames came into contact, the space around Xiao Yan immediately began to ripple violently.

Seeing Xiao Yan's actions, the expressions of those around him changed drastically. They could sense that the three differently colored flames before Xiao Yan were producing an extremely terrifying energy.

"Huo Xuan, let's see whether you can take this move!" Xiao Yan looked at Huo Xuan with immense confidence. Even though his cultivation was inferior to Huo Xuan's, Xiao Yan was still extremely confident in his self-created Buddha's Angry Fire Lotus. With this three-colored fire lotus, he believed he could defeat Huo Xuan.

"You think far too highly of that Dou Technique formed by fusing Strange Fires," Huo Xuan said, casting Xiao Yan a contemptuous glance.

One Wind Fury Dragon Flame ranked eighteenth, one Child Flame of the Bone Chilling Flame, and one beast flame of the Amethyst Crystal Winged Lion King—how powerful could a three-colored fire lotus formed from those be?

With a flip of his palm, Huo Xuan summoned his Eight Desolations Destruction Flame and Bone Chilling Flame, and also began fusing a Buddha's Angry Fire Lotus.

"He actually has two Strange Fires? Could Huo Xuan also cultivate the Flame Mantra?" Xiao Yan stared at the Strange Fires in Huo Xuan's hands, his eyes filled with shock.

A moment later, both men condensed Buddha's Angry Fire Lotuses at the same time. However, the fire lotus in Xiao Yan's hand was visibly much weaker than the one in Huo Xuan's hand.

"Huo Xuan! Let me see just how powerful your fused fire lotus is!" Xiao Yan waved his hand and roared, "Go! Buddha's Angry Fire Lotus!"

Seeing this, Huo Xuan also hurled the fire lotus in his hand.

Boom!

When the two Buddha's Angry Fire Lotuses collided, Huo Xuan's was clearly stronger. It effortlessly shattered Xiao Yan's fire lotus, then continued advancing toward Xiao Yan.

When the fire lotus landed on Xiao Yan, the explosion rang beside everyone's ears like a thunderclap. A scorching firestorm instantly swept across the entire area.

Fa Ma, Jia Xingtian, Hai Bodong, and the others immediately joined forces to set up a defensive barrier against the terrifying energy released by the collision of the two fire lotuses.

The sunlight pouring down from the heavens gradually faded at that moment. The waves of fire created by the explosion of the two fire lotuses hung over Yun Lan Mountain like layers upon layers of dark clouds. Even sunlight could scarcely pierce the thick layers of fire clouds.

Once calm returned, countless buildings around the ground had vanished without a trace. All that remained in sight was devastation.

Xiao Yan lay on the ground, barely clinging to life. Although his own Buddha's Angry Fire Lotus had failed to defeat Huo Xuan's, it had still weakened Huo Xuan's fire lotus considerably. Otherwise, he would already be dead.

Huo Xuan walked up to Xiao Yan and said, "Xiao Yan, you lost!"

Hearing this, Xiao Yan struggled to raise his head. "Huo Xuan! It's true that I'm not your match right now, but I was able to defeat Nalan Yanran after three years, and I can defeat you too! Just give me another three years, and I will definitely defeat you!"

"Defeat me? Heh heh, Xiao Yan, are you dreaming? Let me tell you, even if I gave you another three years, you still wouldn't be able to beat me!" Huo Xuan looked at Xiao Yan disdainfully, not taking him seriously at all.

"Fine, Huo Xuan, if you have the guts, give me another three years. Three years from now, I will definitely defeat you!"

"You won't have that chance."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan caught a trace of killing intent in Huo Xuan's eyes. Horrified, he said, "Huo Xuan, what are you trying to do?"

Huo Xuan replied calmly, "Have you forgotten that this is a duel to the death? You said it yourself just now: life and death, each according to fate. And have you forgotten what I told you three years ago? Cherish your final three years well!"

Making some three-, six-, or nine-year agreement with Xiao Yan was an exceedingly unwise move. With his protagonist's halo, he was an unstable factor. If Huo Xuan let him go, then the next time they met, the entire Flame Clan might be destroyed by his hands. Letting a tiger return to the mountain would bring endless future trouble!

Looking at Huo Xuan's killing intent, Xiao Yan's heart kept sinking... sinking...

Die? No! I couldn't die! I had to survive! I had to survive! Only by surviving would I have a chance to kill Huo Xuan in the future!

With that thought in mind, Xiao Yan immediately came up with a plan.

"Huo Xuan, the cultivation technique you practice probably requires you to devour Strange Fires, right? Then I'll give you my Wind Fury Dragon Flame. How about you let me go?"

Although he had gone through great difficulty to subdue the Wind Fury Dragon Flame, Xiao Yan could only grit his teeth and hand it over to stay alive. If the Strange Fire was gone, he could always find another one. But he only had one life—once it was gone, everything would be gone.

Huo Xuan shot Xiao Yan a disdainful look and slowly said, "The Wind Fury Dragon Flame was mine to begin with. Why would I need you to give it to me?"

"Huo Xuan, don't push me too far! At worst, we'll both die together!" Xiao Yan roared.

"What other tricks do you have? Hurry up and use them."

"Teacher, help me! With your assistance, we might be able to kill Huo Xuan!" Xiao Yan kept calling out to Yao Chen in his heart.

But Yao Chen gave him no response whatsoever.

Inside the Storage Ring, Yao Chen chose to ignore him. He could not save Xiao Yan, nor would he. Huo Xuan was now determined to kill Xiao Yan. If he dared intervene, he would surely become Huo Xuan's enemy. Even if he managed to save Xiao Yan, they would then face the Flame Clan's endless pursuit.

"Alas, Xiao Yanzi, the bond between master and disciple is over."

Xiao Yan continued calling for Yao Chen without pause. Seeing how frantic he was, Huo Xuan even felt the slightest trace of sympathy for him.

"Old Ya, you made a very wise choice. Don't worry. Once I kill Xiao Yan, I will definitely help you revive."

"What?!" Huo Xuan's words instantly filled Xiao Yan with despair. From what Huo Xuan said, he seemed to know of Yao Chen's existence, and the two of them had even made some secret deal.

With a turn of his palm, Bone Chilling Flame appeared in Huo Xuan's hand. "Xiao Yan, does this Strange Fire look familiar?"

Xiao Yan stared fixedly at the Strange Fire in Huo Xuan's hand. Wasn't this the flame his teacher possessed? Yet the one in Huo Xuan's hand looked far stronger than his teacher's.

"To tell you the truth, both the cultivation technique I practice and this Strange Fire were given to me by your teacher. The reason he took you as his disciple was simply because he feared that I would refuse to revive him in the future. To your teacher, you were nothing more than someone he could take or leave."

"Impossible! That's impossible!"

"Fool, your teacher has already abandoned you." As he spoke, Huo Xuan removed the ring from Xiao Yan's hand and put it on his own.

Huo Xuan was not someone who broke his word. Since he had promised Yao Chen that he would help reconstruct his body and revive him, he would certainly do so.

"Xiao Yan, die!" A wisp of pale black flame rose from Huo Xuan's hand, condensing into flaming spikes that shot toward Xiao Yan.

Yet at that very moment, a powerful wave of energy descended from above and blocked the fatal strike for Xiao Yan.

"One should spare others when possible. Young Clan Leader Yan, please show mercy and spare Xiao Yan." At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.