News of Heavenly Flames

"Is that... the sound of fighting?"

Yan Lin rose from the sand dune and looked toward the source of the battle. From afar, he could vaguely make out three figures engaged in a fierce aerial battle, clashing and pursuing one another.

The commotion was enormous!

Even Yan Lin, over a thousand meters away, was affected by the aftershocks of their battle. Gusts formed by waves of Dou Qi swept over, carrying endless yellow sand that blurred his vision and shattered the desert's tranquility.

Yan Lin's heart stirred. Dou Qi flowed out through his meridians, forming a barrier before him that blocked the raging wind and sand.

"Three Dou Wang experts..."

Gazing at the three figures in the sky, Yan Lin could tell from the powerful aura emanating from their Dou Qi wings that their realms were not much higher than his own.

"The desert is unusually lively today."

Watching the three Dou Wang experts fight in the sky, Yan Lin felt that, as the local host, he ought to take a proper look at the origins of these three people who had dared intrude upon his tribe's territory.

After secretly contacting Hua She'er through voice transmission, Yan Lin quietly moved closer.

Viewing the battle from a closer distance, Yan Lin saw that it was two against one. One of them wore the robes of a Fifth-Grade Alchemist, while the other two wore magnificent black and green robes.

"No wonder an alchemist can fight two Dou Wang Poison Masters at once. He cultivates both alchemy and poison arts. A battle between three Dou Wang-level Poison Masters is truly spectacular."

Watching the Fifth-Grade Alchemist fight one against two in the sky, Yan Lin determined from their fighting styles and Dou Qi attributes that all three were Poison Masters.

This made Yan Lin speculate about their identities. "Could they be from the Chuyun Empire? But the direction they came from doesn't seem to be Chuyun Empire."

The Chuyun Empire was known throughout the Northwest Continent for producing Poison Masters.

The Tagor Desert lay surrounded by nations such as the Jia Ma Empire, Chuyun Empire, Luoyan Empire, and Mulan Empire.

The direction from which the three Dou Wang Poison Masters had arrived was clearly not along the Chuyun Empire's border, so Yan Lin could not determine their identities.

He did not care too much and continued lurking in observation.

The fierce battle in the sky continued for a while, but the Fifth-Grade Alchemist was clearly falling into a disadvantage. Besieged by the two Dou Wang Poison Masters, he could not fend off four hands with only two fists. After blocking one man's fierce attack, he was ambushed by the other and slammed to the ground.

Boom!

A sand dune was blown flat, and yellow sand erupted from the ground like a curtain, revealing a shocking crater.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The black- and green-robed figures flashed above the spot where the Fifth-Grade Alchemist had fallen, looking down at him from on high. One of them, an old man in green robes, spoke. "Qi Yunxiao, hand over the Heavenly Flame Map, and my brother and I can spare your life."

The black-robed old man kept a cold, expressionless face, as though his features had frozen. Clearly, he was not good with words.

When he looked at Qi Yunxiao, his vulture-like eyes held not the slightest warmth, as if he were looking at a dead man.

Yan Lin, hidden beside a massive rock in the desert, felt his heartbeat quicken when he heard the words "Heavenly Flame Map." His eyes burned brightly.

He had not expected that coming over to watch the excitement would let him hear such explosive news.

"Cough..."

Qi Yunxiao clutched his aching chest and slowly rose from the sand pit. Looking closely at his chest, one could see wisps of green poisonous gas spreading from it.

After taking a poisonous palm strike from his enemy, the Dou Qi within his body could no longer suppress the poison, causing his blood and Qi to surge backward. Unable to endure it, he coughed up hot blood.

The blood was blackish-brown. When it splattered onto the scorching yellow sand, it hissed and gave off green poisonous smoke. Clearly, he had been severely poisoned.

However, even though Qi Yunxiao was badly injured, the two Dou Wang Poison Masters did not dare rashly approach him.

They both knew that if a Poison Master was driven into a corner, he might very well choose to perish with them. That was precisely why they had not rushed in to kill him.

Qi Yunxiao also understood their thoughts. Supporting himself with the banner in his hand that continuously emitted black smoke, he forced himself upright and desperately circulated his Dou Qi to suppress the domineering poisonous Dou Qi invading his body, refusing to let them see that he was already at the end of his strength.

His face deathly pale, Qi Yunxiao cast a meaningful glance in a certain direction. His eyes flickered, but instead of yielding, he sneered at the two men in the sky. "Do you take me for a three-year-old child? If I hand it over, I'll only die faster."

They were all old foxes. Who was he trying to fool with such nonsense?

Qi Yunxiao bluntly exposed the lie, causing the two Dou Wang experts in the sky to frown slightly. The green-robed old man narrowed his eyes and said in an icy tone, "You are clever, so... we cannot let you live."

"Kill!"

The black-robed old man was even more direct. Raising his Serpent Cane, he charged at Qi Yunxiao. The green-robed old man followed suit, wielding his Toad Crutch. As he swung it, green Dou Qi stirred up an energy tide and transformed into a gigantic green toad over a dozen zhang tall.

One attacked at close range while the other attacked from afar. Their cooperation was seamless; no wonder Qi Yunxiao had been forced back step by step.

Whoosh!

Seeing the enemies close in again, Qi Yunxiao did not confront them head-on as before. Instead, he spread his Dou Qi wings, evaded their attacks, and sped toward Yan Lin's location, shouting, "Friend ahead, please lend me a hand!"

His shout startled all three people in the surrounding sands.

The green-robed old man immediately stopped attacking and scanned the area. Meanwhile, Qi Yunxiao seized the opportunity to wave the banner in his hand that continuously emitted black smoke. Orange-red flames tainted with black poisonous gas flared from the banner.

"Myriad Soul Banner!"

With a low shout in his heart, strange thick black smoke continuously poured from Qi Yunxiao's soul banner. At the same time, chilling cries like the wails and howls of ghosts echoed through the desert.

The black smoke transformed into one hideous human face after another, swarming toward the black-robed old man attacking him like ghosts and demons.

These were Soul Bodies Qi Yunxiao had hunted and captured over many years, then placed within the Myriad Soul Banner he had refined for his own use.

Under Qi Yunxiao's control, these undead could retain strength not much weaker than what they possessed in life.

Although the strongest of these undead were only Dou Ling, their numbers reached into the hundreds and thousands, making them impossible to underestimate.

Seeing hundreds and thousands of evil spirits charging at him, the black-robed old man—who had still been wondering whether there was a third party nearby—could not help but show a change in expression on his wrinkled, gloomy face.

"Myriad Snake Array!"

The black-robed old man quickly formed hand seals. With a thud, the Serpent Cane in his hand shook through the air, and inky-black poisonous Dou Qi erupted from the mouth of the venomous snake carving atop the staff.

The vast poisonous Dou Qi condensed into countless venomous snakes. Like a nest of snakes pouring forth, they engulfed the undead.

"Wooo..."

"Hisss..."

The undead and the snake swarm battled fiercely, with neither side gaining an advantage, but the wounded Qi Yunxiao was clearly at a disadvantage.

His sickly pale face grew even whiter, his aura more chaotic, while the invading poison within him continued to erode his body.

Yet Qi Yunxiao did not dare divide his attention to take antidote pills. The two Dou Wang Poison Masters would not let him have his way.