The wind atop the mountain swept up gravel and the smell of blood, lashing Xiao Yan's cheeks painfully. The Green Lotus Core Flame in his palm had burned to its limit, its pale purple flames nearly bursting through his fingers. Heat waves warped the surrounding air, yet they could not dispel the despair in his heart—Yun Shan's Dou Zong pressure was like a tangible mountain, crushing him until even breathing was difficult. Behind him, Nalan Yanran's face was deathly pale, both hands clenched tightly around her skirt, her knuckles turned white. Hai Bodong lay on the ground, his icy crystal armor covered in cracks, his fate unknown. The Purple Gold Winged Lion King lay nearby with drooping wings, its breathing growing weaker by the moment. Qing Lin, huddled at Xiao Yan's other side, was trembling all over in fright. Her emerald eyes were filled with terror, and her little hand clutched Xiao Yan's sleeve so tightly that her fingertips had gone white. This was the most perilous dead end Xiao Yan had faced since beginning his journey.
Just as Xiao Yan gritted his teeth and prepared to burn his Dou Qi to fight Yun Shan to the death, the heavily wounded Seven-Colored Sky Swallowing Python on the ground suddenly began to glow strangely. Its pale purple blood stopped flowing. Instead, as though drawn by an Invisible power, it slowly flowed backward along the patterns of its scales. The formerly dim scales gradually lit up with a seven-colored radiance, like flames being rekindled, staining the smoke and dust around it in brilliant hues. Even the smell of blood in the air was weakened by the light.
"This is..." Xiao Yan's pupils suddenly contracted, and he even forgot to control the flames in his palm. Qing Lin raised her head as well,