Fire Supernatural Power Devouring

He wanted to watch the fire from a safe distance, but instead ended up getting burned himself.

Wang Shiyi's Angry Dragon Slash only fanned the flames larger, and tongues of fire instantly wrapped around his wrist.

The blaze clung to him like bone-gnawing maggots; no matter how he beat at it, he couldn't extinguish it. It spread with terrifying speed, and in the blink of an eye, his chest was already ablaze.

"Is this also a Fire Element Supernatural Power?"

Hanyu found it hard to believe—this was far more fearsome than what Xiao Shui had used back then.

He didn't know that Young Master Xiao had been forcibly elevated by pills, lacking true comprehension, and that even among the same fire element, supernatural powers had vastly different characteristics.

Mortal and Cousin were now completely covered in flames, slapping at each other in vain, but it was useless.

"You can try devouring his flames!"

Little Glazed suddenly spoke up in his mind.

"What?"

Hanyu's expression was startled, as if afraid he'd misheard.

Little Glazed repeated, "You share the same fire origin as him. You can attempt to swallow his flames into your own."

This was practically no different from seeking death.

If the two supernatural powers collided and exploded, the force would be unimaginable.

"For anyone else, doing this would indeed be suicide, but you're different. In your mind—or rather, in your Sea of Consciousness—you have the Glazed Bottle. After you devour his flames, the bottle can dissolve them."

Hanyu frowned in thought. "Are you sure it can dissolve them?"

Little Glazed's tone was firm. "As long as it's energy, the Glazed Bottle can refine it. The question is whether you can devour it."

"How do I devour it?"

Hanyu asked urgently.

"Release your Fire Element Supernatural Power and control it to gnaw away at his flames."

Hearing this, Hanyu calmed his mind. He opened his right hand, and a pitifully small flame appeared in his palm.

He tried to communicate with that tiny spark, extending it outward. It first reached his own arm, where the two different flames met and tangled together like beasts locked in combat.

"Bottle, get to work!"

Little Glazed shouted hurriedly.

In the Sea of Consciousness, the Glazed Bottle tumbled, then flew up and inverted itself. The strange fire on Hanyu's body began to flow continuously through the flame in his palm, channeling into the Sea of Consciousness.

At that moment, the Glazed Bottle emitted a suction force. The moment the enemy's flames entered the Sea of Consciousness, they were swiftly drawn into the bottle.

It was working!

A gleam lit up in Hanyu's eyes, and he charged even more recklessly into the sea of fire.

"Come over here, all of you—I have a way!"

At the same time, Hanyu let out a loud shout. Mortal and Cousin understood immediately, stopped beating at the flames, and rushed over quickly.

Hanyu held the flame in his hand like a god of fire descending upon the world. The vast blaze continuously converged toward his palm.

He sucked desperately with his hand, while in the Sea of Consciousness, the Glazed Bottle refined just as frantically.

Suddenly, Hanyu noticed with astonishment that the flame belonging to him in his palm was beginning to grow larger.

A lotus flower was blooming!

"What's going on?"

Hanyu quickly asked the little Artifact Spirit.

The little Artifact Spirit seemed equally surprised, saying in amazement, "Ah! The bottle is absorbing his Supernatural Power Origin through the flames. Keep sucking—the bottle is making a huge profit this time!"

Hanyu's heart stirred. He drained all the fire sources around him, as well as the flames on Mortal and Cousin, and even didn't spare the ones on Wang Shiyi.

That unlucky bastard Wang Shiyi thus barely escaped with his life.

The Black Robe's face was hidden, but his figure clearly stiffened. He let out a faint cold snort, and another sea of fire descended from the sky.

Good man!

Good man!

Hanyu and Little Glazed both praised him at the same time. This delighted Hanyu—the fire lotus grew larger and larger, eventually reaching the size of a washbasin.

Flames fell continuously from the sky, while the man below held up the fire lotus and kept absorbing. In the end, the lotus began to rise, frantically devouring the fire sea before it could even fall.

The Black Robe's whole body trembled. Only then did he realize that his sea of fire had been forcibly shrunk by half.

Startled, he hastily withdrew his supernatural power, staring at Hanyu below in disbelief.

Being able to devour Supernatural Power Origin was far too horrifying to hear of.

Below, the fire lotus slowly descended after eating the last mouthful of flame. Hanyu held it up with one hand, looking expectant. "Got any more?"

Though the Black Robe's expression was invisible, his whole body trembled in midair. Suddenly, he raised his hand and summoned True Essence into his palm, condensing a massive blade out of thin air.

With a horizontal slash, the great sword came crashing down. The moment before, Hanyu had been gloating—now, disaster struck.

The blade struck his chest, Hanyu's sternum caved in, and he flew backward spitting blood.

The great saber did not relent, continuing its slash, intent on killing Hanyu midair.

As the blade drew closer and closer, in that moment of crisis, the Mortal's figure suddenly flashed past, scooping up Hanyu, kicking twice in the air to leap above the saber.

The Black Robe raised his palm upward, and the saber sliced up again. The Mortal hurriedly turned back and stepped for the third time.

But the great saber seemed to have anticipated this, abruptly changing direction.

The Mortal gritted his teeth and took a fourth step—one he had never attempted before. As he did, his figure suddenly became ethereal.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, he appeared a hundred meters away.

Pfft!

This step seemed to exact a heavy toll. The moment the Mortal landed, a mouthful of blood sprayed onto Hanyu's face. Hanyu stirred awake, but now it was the Mortal who fell unconscious.

The Black Robe was about to move when two figures approached from the horizon. After a moment's hesitation, he summoned a Flying Sword and shot into the sky.

Such a commotion had inevitably alarmed Su Wanjun, and Ou Mingdong, noticing his Junior Brother missing, had also chased after them.

The two arrived one after the other.

Taking in the wreckage and the soot-blackened group.

The Cousin immediately began playing the victim. "Cousin Sister, this time it really wasn't our fault."

Inside the Prefectural Yamen, everyone gathered, though most were in a miserable state, their faces smudged with black.

Ou Mingdong was currently scolding his Junior Brother.

From the accounts of Hanyu, the Mortal, and the Cousin, the general picture of events was pieced together.

The gist was that Wang Shiyi had sneaked to the inn to settle a grudge, only to encounter a Black Robe who attacked the three of them without any reason.

As for Wang Shiyi, he seemed to have been caught in the crossfire.

That unlucky bastard, really...

Ou Mingdong had already decided to take his people back at first light.

As for Su Wanjun, she frowned in thought. A Black Robe... Fire Element Supernatural Power... and specifically targeting the three of them.

There seemed to be only one reason anyone would come for them, and the methods were similar—both were cultivators skilled in fire.

Hanyu and the others had also figured it out. Right now, the only one who would want the three of them dead in Shuzhou City was the Mastermind.

"I thought staying inside the city would be safe, but I didn't expect him to actually dare come in and kill," the Cousin sighed.

Su Wanjun's expression flickered with unease before she said, "It might be related to what I've been doing."

She then explained her recent actions.

Ever since Hanyu and the others entered the city, Su Wanjun had never stopped investigating. Since the Zhu You Sect lead had gone nowhere, she decided to look into the Corpse Refining angle.

Since the Zhu You Sect had traveled such a distance to get here, perhaps there were others elsewhere too.

So she not only reported her suspicions to the Imperial Court but also coordinated with neighboring prefectures to conduct a survey.

The result was that when the northern prefectures and counties checked, many sparsely populated, vast regions showed small numbers of missing persons. One or two prefectures might not be strange, but multiple prefectures all showing the same pattern?

Naturally, Su Wanjun reported this discovery and her conjecture to the Imperial Court again. Whether the court had taken countermeasures or other prefectures were conducting thorough investigations, either way, it had undoubtedly struck at the root of the person behind it all.

"So this Black Robe wasn't here for revenge, but for retaliation, right?" Hanyu clutched his chest, still not recovered, the pain lingering. Even when he fought that Half-step Divine Peeking, it hadn't hurt this much.

"Idiot. In cultivation, each realm is a chasm. A hair's breadth is a vast gulf. How could a Half-step Divine Peeking compare to a true Divine Peeking?" Little Glazed scolded in his mind.

It seemed the three of them had suffered undeserved misfortune. What followed was Su Wanjun's doing, but the blame had fallen on them.

Ou Mingdong, listening clearly, had grasped the situation. He interjected, "A single Zhu You Sect couldn't possibly have the reach to abduct people and refine corpses across the Northern Border. There must be backing, or someone pulling the strings behind the scenes."

"I'll report this when I return, let the sect know. After all, the reemergence of the Corpse Refining lineage is no good thing. This isn't just the Imperial Court's concern—it's the cultivator world's problem too."

With that, he prepared to take Wang Shiyi and leave. Before going, Ou Mingdong couldn't help asking Hanyu one more time, "Really no antidote?"

Hanyu shook his head. "Really none. Best you can do from now on is be careful when you go out—don't look around or sniff things randomly."

The faint gratitude Wang Shiyi had just felt vanished instantly. For this alone, Hanyu could save him ten or eight times and still not make up for the grudge.

After the two left, Su Wanjun looked helplessly at the trio.

"I thought you'd be safest hiding in the city, but now that's no longer the case. I'm afraid you can't stay in Shuzhou City anymore. Who knows when they'll strike again."

After some discussion, Su Wanjun made a decision.

The Cousin would be sent back to the Mo Family. This time, there was no room for negotiation—either he obediently followed her back, or she would break his legs and take him anyway.

As for Hanyu and the Mortal, a merchant caravan was leaving the city tomorrow. She would arrange for them to blend in. As long as they kept up their disguise, once they left, scattered across the land, it would be hard for anyone to find them again.

The Cousin saw the two out of the Prefectural Yamen, pouting pitifully. "I really don't want to go back."

"Then what do you want?"

Hanyu glanced at him and said with a smile.

"You guys help me escape! I'll blend in with you and get out of the city."

Cousin's eyes lit up, and a terrible idea immediately came to him.

"What's your sister's cultivation level?"

Hanyu asked.

"Peeping God."

Cousin had barely finished speaking when the two of them turned and walked away without looking back.

"We'll come see you when we get a chance."

On the road, Hanyu and the Mortal kept their wits about them, taking a cautious, winding path before finally finding a new place to settle down.

"A twenty-five-year-old Peeping God Realm cultivator—the Three Yuan Nine Sects really are terrifying."

The Mortal suddenly sighed.

Curious, Hanyu asked Little Glazed in his mind, "Someone this strong—why didn't you react? If Cousin hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have known she was that powerful. Does she have no luck, or do you just not care?"

Little Glazed grumbled, "I want her too! But lately, the bottle keeps pulling its weight, so now the pill output goes to it."

Then Little Glazed didn't forget to cheer Hanyu on. "It's fine, just bear with it for a while. Once I run into another down-and-out Son of Fortune, I'll turn things around in one go, and my authority will come back. Then I can come out whenever I want, or not if I don't feel like it."

Well, who knew something like this could exist—an Artifact Spirit and its vessel being so out of sync.

The pills the bottle itself produced could have an absurdly high ceiling, or an absurdly low floor, and came in all sorts of bizarre varieties.

The little Artifact Spirit seemed to specialize in producing pills for specific people to complete its absorption.

"I'm not going with the merchant caravan tomorrow. What are your plans?"

The Mortal spoke again.

Hanyu paused, also mulling over whether to go with the caravan or not...

Dropped Pill: The author receives one monthly ticket per second. Side effect: Integrity drops.