Three Thousand Hostages

However, the first to suffer were the surrounding, peaceful, deep forests, which could not withstand the power of the fire. Although there was no direct contact, it was all ablaze in no time. The lush vegetation of the deep forests was engulfed in flames. Birds could not fly, and wild animals could not escape this sudden disaster, being swallowed up by the merciless fire.

The sky was ablaze with surging blue flames, while the earth was engulfed in a raging inferno. The blue in the sky was dazzlingly bright, while the red flames on the ground billowed thick black smoke. Instantly, the area below, where people were watching the battle, became a cage in a sea of fire.

Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu, who were panting at the two ends of the sea of fire, were stunned by the scene above and below. How could it have turned out like this?

Unbeknownst to the two, the area where they were observing the battle was in complete chaos—over three thousand people! There was a risk of death! Only a very few with high cultivation levels were confident they could escape this endless sea of fire. Of course, they would escape through the mortal fire closest to the ground.

However, most of those who came to join the fun had not reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Those below the Tribulation Transcendence stage, including those in the late Nascent Soul stage, had no confidence in escaping this Flaming Mountain that stretched for dozens of miles. As for taking the sky, forget about it; they were blocked by the Azure Flame.

Yue Qianchou, amidst the azure flames, calmed his disordered breathing, stepped onto a black flying sword, and with a somber expression, emerged from the vast sea of azure fire. Looking around, he didn't see the two who had injured him. Immediately, he circulated his True Essence and roared, "Guan Zhongkai, Yu Landu, you two get out here!"

The sound reverberated throughout the surrounding area, and those below could hear it quite clearly. By the time it reached Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu's ears, it was almost inaudible, but given their cultivation levels, they could still make out what it was.

The two men twitched, glancing simultaneously at the vast sea of fire, both secretly cursing. "Damn it! There's no way we can fight this. We're not afraid of you with our cultivation, but we're terrified of this blue sea of fire! If we run over there, and you use this sea of fire as dough and us as filling to wrap dumplings, do you think we'll ever escape?"

The two realized they didn't have the ability to play another dozen or so teleport games in a row; they really couldn't move anymore.

"Guan Zhongkai, Yu Landu, you two shameless bastards, come out here right now, I'll fight you three hundred rounds..."

"Guan Zhongkai, Yu Landu, you two shameless scoundrels, you two cowards, if you have the guts, come out here, or I'll spare your lives..."

"Yu Landu, Guan Zhongkai, your grandfather is here! Show yourself at once..."

Yue Qianchou stood above the sea of fire, cursing incessantly. The two men were furious, but ultimately felt their lives were more important, so they could only pretend not to hear him, their faces pale. However, once word got out, they were definitely going to lose face.

Many people below could hardly bear it any longer and gathered around Nong Zhu Wen Rui for help!

"Mr. Nongzhu, Senior Wen Rui, please save us..."

"Please, seniors, save me..."

"Please, seniors, persuade Yue Qianchou to stop..."

"Something's wrong, someone has already fainted..."

A group of people surrounded them, pleading desperately. Some Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators couldn't resist and dozens fainted. Nong Zhu was both annoyed and amused. Why did they have to come and join in the fun if they weren't capable enough?

"Yue Qianchou was injured before, weren't you all cheering? What? Are you scared now?" Nong Zhu looked up at the sky and pouted, saying irritably, "Since you're so eager to kill him, why don't you just go up and kill him together? You'll be saved then. Why come to me for help?"

Nong Zhu's words reminded Furong. Furong looked at these people with resentment in her eyes. Yue Qianchou was beaten until he vomited blood, and these people were still cheering. Now it would be better if they were all dead.

This woman, pure and kind at heart, has probably never uttered such a resentful Curse before.

Wen Rui remained silent. Ever since learning of Yue Qianchou's powerful background, he had secretly decided to side with Yue Qianchou. Most importantly, on the day Huo Zongming and Yan Ji stirred up trouble, he had already sent a message back, warning the Wen family not to get involved. Looking back, he felt incredibly prescient!

Currently, besides him Wen Bai, there are no other members of the Wen family here, so protecting Wen Bai shouldn't be a problem for him. As for the others, he doesn't need to offend Yue Qianchou, a person with a powerful background, for their sake, so he simply keeps quiet and lets Nong Zhu speak.

"Mr. Nongzhu, I am a cultivator from the Kingdom of Bhikshu. I have heard that you and my ancestor have a close relationship. I beg you, for the sake of my ancestor, to save my life!" This person said, and what followed was quite extraordinary.

"Mr. Nongzhu, I am a cultivator from the Jade Kingdom, and my ancestor had a very close relationship with you..."

Chaos erupted instantly. Nong Zhu was stunned. She had thought having many friends was a good thing, but it turned out that having many friends and troubles went hand in hand. A group of people brought up their Old Ancestor. They could disregard the friends' face, but they couldn't ignore their Old Ancestor's face.

"Guan Zhongkai, Yu Landu, were you two raised by eunuchs since you were little..." Yue Qianchou was still cursing above.

Nong Zhu listened to the increasingly scathing insults, he pointed upwards and said helplessly, "The duel isn't over yet, and according to the rules, outsiders can't just interfere."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone pleaded, "Mr. Nongzhu, please ask Yue Qianchou to open a path. We don't want to watch this fight anymore, we're leaving!"

"Yes! Yes! We beg you!" One person took the lead and knelt down. Immediately, a large group of people knelt down as well.

Nong Zhu coughed twice and waved his hand, saying, "Get up, everyone! I'll give it a try, but I don't know if it will work. You all saw what happened before; he didn't give me any face at all, so it might be useless for me to speak up."

A group of people urged him to hurry up, as they really couldn't hold on much longer.

Nong Zhu cleared his throat and shouted into the air, "Yue Qianchou, have you finished cursing? If you keep dawdling, the people below will be roasted alive by your fire. Open a path and let the innocent people out."

Yue Qianchou amidst the sea of fire, immediately cursed upon hearing this, "Innocent my ass! They all wish I were dead. Letting them out? Non-Self have to be crazy... Hey! Damn! That reminds me..."

Those below, upon hearing the first part, turned pale, but upon hearing the astonishing words that followed, a glimmer of hope appeared in their eyes. However, after hearing what followed, the group was dumbfounded and regretted asking Nong Zhu for help.

Yue Qianchou shouted, "Guan Zhongkai, Yu Landu, get out here right now, or all three thousand people below will die because of you!" As he spoke, he manipulated the blue flames at the edge of the sea of fire to recede into the ground.

Instantly, the entire area within a radius of several miles was sealed off, as if covered by a blue fire cap.

Yu Landu, standing on the edge of the sea, was dumbfounded. Could this guy really dare to burn three thousand cultivators to death in one go?

On the other end, Guan Zhongkai directly denied that Yue Qianchou dared to do so, and began to speak, shouting, "Yue Qianchou, are you tired of cursing? You should obediently put away your fire, and let's end this matter here, as if it never happened. If you want to threaten me with the lives of three thousand cultivators, then you are too naive. What do their lives have to do with me?"

"Don't worry, you coward Guan. When I get tired of cursing, someone else will curse for me, and I guarantee your ancestors for eighteen generations will never be reincarnated!" After Yue Qianchou finished shouting, he called down to the people below, "You all heard that! It's not that I don't want to release you, but Guan Zhongkai thinks your lives or deaths are none of his business. This is clearly an implication that I should burn you to death. Fine, I'll let him have his way!"

"No...!"

"Mr. Yue, please spare me..."

"Mr. Yue, please have mercy..."

The panicked shouts below created a chaotic scene. Yue Qianchou chuckled coldly, "Let me tell you, because of Guan Zhongkai's words, this area within a radius of several miles has been sealed off by my Azure Flame. Flies can't fly out through the cracks, ants can't crawl out through the holes, and even those at the late Tribulation Transcendence stage will obediently wait to die. If you want to get out, curse Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu out, and I'll let you leave; otherwise, you'll all die!"

Upon hearing this, the dozens of Tribulation Transcendence stage experts below, who were eager to see the outcome, were stunned. They hastily flew away through the sea of fire, bracing themselves against their protective Gang Qi. The distance of a dozen miles wouldn't take them long. Upon reaching the end, they discovered that, as Yue Qianchou had said, the azure fire had completely sealed off the area from top to bottom, and seemed to be gradually shrinking. Judging from the deep azure wall of fire, it was probably incredibly thick; breaking through seemed hopeless.

They didn't dare take the risk and turned back. The round trip had essentially doubled the distance, and they all felt the heat was unbearable. Seeing them return, the others knew without a doubt that the outcome was as Yue Qianchou had predicted.

One of the returning late Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivators stomped his foot and spat, "Guan Zhongkai, you're so unlucky! If you're not going to talk, you should just stay silent. Your shout is going to kill us all." Then he shook his head with a wry smile and said to the others, "This fire shield is slowly shrinking this way. Once it closes in, we're all doomed."

Everyone panicked immediately, and cries for Yue Qianchou to show mercy filled the air.

"What's everyone's decision?" Yue Qianchou sneered. "I've always been a compassionate person. The ones who harmed you were actually Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu. You all better curse them, curse them hard, at least a hundred times harder than you cursed me. Curse those two cowards out of there. Curse them into coming out and fighting me to the death. If I die, you'll naturally be saved. If they die, I guarantee I'll let you go... Damn it, what are you waiting for! Be careful, or I'll roast you like suckling pigs right now."

Surprisingly, the one who started cursing was the late Tribulation Transcendence stage Transcending cultivator who had returned and was stamping his feet. He roared, "Guan Zhongkai, I'm Xin Lao San! If you want to fight, then fight! If not, then come out and admit defeat! Don't you dare drag us down with you! If you don't come out now, when I get a chance to get out, I'll twist your head off and use it as a chamber pot! Get the hell out here..."

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