Everyone's hearts sank to rock bottom in an instant.
An eerie silence hung over the plaza for several seconds before Hu Gan's furious roar shattered it.
"Attack!!"
He was the first to shoot into the sky, Earth-Yellow Dou Qi condensing into the shape of a mountain as he threw a punch.
Almost simultaneously, Mo Tianquan, Fan Lao, Silver Elder, and Xiao Yan followed without hesitation.
Everyone knew that this had become a fight to the death.
Facing their combined assault, Yun Qianhang's one normal eye held only a trace of mockery.
"It's been a long time since I last stretched my limbs."
He casually raised his left arm, which had already transformed into flames and lava.
The flames swelled violently in the wind, becoming a Crimson Giant Palm that lightly pressed forward.
Boom boom boom boom—!
A dense series of thunderous explosions erupted in midair.
Dou Techniques collided with the crimson flaming giant palm, unleashing violent torrents of energy.
After a single exchange, the giant palm remained intact.
Instead, the scorching force rebounding from it made Hu Gan and the others' Qi and Blood churn. They staggered several steps back through the air.
Yun Qianhang did not move in the slightest and merely shook his head.
"Is that all? It seems the Black Corner Region has only grown more stagnant over these past hundred years."
As though he had lost interest, Yun Qianhang raised his right hand and made a grasping motion toward the Myriad Fire Furnace at the center of the plaza below.
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The Myriad Fire Furnace was forcibly shifted several dozen feet.
Under everyone's horrified gazes, a massive black hole more than a hundred feet wide and bottomless in depth was revealed beneath the furnace!
Dark Red Mist, as though it had been suppressed for ages, suddenly erupted from the cave entrance.
The moment the mist touched the air, it gave off sharp sizzling sounds.
"That is... fire poison?!"
Qin Han's expression changed drastically. He sensed a familiar presence and seemed to recognize what it was.
"Defend with all your strength!"
Qin Han shouted a warning.
But it was already too late.
The Poisonous Fire Mist spread from the cave entrance and instantly swept across the entire plaza!
Its speed was astonishing. Within a few breaths, it had enveloped everyone.
A pungent, bizarre stench of sulfur mixed with scorched flesh burrowed into their nostrils.
Everyone hurriedly circulated their Dou Qi, forming protective barriers of various colors around themselves in an attempt to resist it.
But this fire poison was a hundred times purer than the Miasmic Poison Gas that had previously filled the air. Like gangrene clinging to the bone, it adhered to the Dou Qi barriers and frantically corroded and dissolved them.
"Grab hold of me!"
Qin Han reached out and seized Zi Yan's arm.
He had two Heavenly Flames protecting his body. No matter how potent the fire poison was, it would have to behave itself once it entered his body.
Wu Tianlang and the others, who had been defending with all their strength, immediately understood Qin Han's intention. The people of Jia Nan Academy knew fire poison best and also knew how to deal with it.
At once, they placed their hands one after another on Qin Han's shoulders.
"Don't resist. Let the Heart Flame flow through all your meridians!"
Surging Heart Flame transformed into Fire Pythons within Qin Han's body and poured into Zi Yan and the elders.
As the Heart Flame entered their bodies, it brought threads of burning pain. Even their Dou Qi faintly showed signs of losing control, but compared to the fire poison's erosion of their Dou Qi, such a price was entirely acceptable.
The other factions, however, did not have such treatment.
"Aah—!"
An incomparably shrill scream rang out. At the edge of the plaza, a mercenary leader with strength around that of a seven-star Dou Ling was the first whose Dou Qi barrier was eaten through by the fire poison. A wisp of dark red mist slipped inside and touched his skin.
The next moment, a horrifying scene unfolded.
The mercenary leader's skin instantly turned crimson, while thick dark red fluid poured from his seven orifices!
His eyes were swiftly overtaken by scarlet, and his sanity vanished at a visible rate, replaced by madness and agony.
Within barely a dozen breaths, his struggles ceased.
His body hunched over, lava-like veins flowed across his skin, and unconscious rasping sounds escaped his mouth. He had become exactly like the Fire Spirit Bodies around him!
"Hiss—!"
Watching a living person transform into a monster before their eyes, the chill in everyone's hearts instantly reached its peak.
It was utterly terrifying.
"Hold on! Don't let your Dou Qi break! We cannot allow this thing to enter our bodies!"
The leaders of every faction roared madly. Each desperately drove their Dou Qi and reinforced their defenses.
They could clearly feel that not only was their Dou Qi being rapidly depleted, but the strange force within the fire poison was also trying to seep in, erode their flesh, and faintly stir their souls.
"Hahaha... feel it!"
Yun Qianhang floated above the Poisonous Fire Mist and laughed wildly. "This is the torment my Fallen Fire Sect endured day and night back then! Our flesh was eroded by the Earthfire Poisonous Fiend, our souls burned away, until we slowly became neither human nor ghost!
"Now it is your turn!"
His laughter abruptly stopped as his hands formed a seal gesture.
"Myriad Stars Flame, refine blood and return to origin!"
Buzz—!
The Myriad Stars Flame permeating the plaza suddenly stopped drifting aimlessly.
It rapidly gathered and wove together, forming an enormous net of light that flashed with blood-green radiance!
Countless Starflame Silk Threads descended from the net, precisely winding around every living person below who was still struggling to endure!
"I can't move!"
"My Dou Qi... my Dou Qi is being drained away!"
Those entangled by the Starflame Silk Threads discovered in horror that not only were their bodies locked down by a powerful restraining force, leaving them unable to move, but even the Dou Qi within them was slowly being drawn out along those threads!
More terrifyingly, they could feel their vitality, Blood Qi, and even Soul Power growing hazy and weak, as if something more fundamental was also being silently stolen away.
All the energy drawn out by the Starflame Silk Threads transformed into streams of multicolored light that frantically surged toward the displaced Myriad Fire Furnace!
Yun Qianhang changed his hand seal again and pointed from afar at the Fire Spirit Body Army.
"With their blood, reshape my body! My disciples... return!"
Following his command, the massive amount of gathered energy inside the Myriad Fire Furnace underwent some manner of transformation through the runes on its body. Dark red Flowing Light brimming with vitality shot toward the stronger Fire Spirit Bodies in the plaza.
The flames on the Fire Spirit Bodies suddenly surged, and they let out hisses of relief and pain.
Their bodies, formed from pure flames and lava, began to undergo changes visible to the naked eye.
The flames contracted inward, while the lava solidified and took shape... though the process was extremely slow.
Vague outlines of limbs and indistinct facial features gradually began to emerge.
Their auras also lost some of their violence and gained a trace of vitality belonging to humans.
By this point, everyone understood the truth behind the Fallen Fire Sect expedition.
A hundred years ago, for some unknown reason, this terrifying fire poison had appeared in the Fallen Fire Sect. The entire sect had been eroded and refined into this ghostly state, forcing it to seal itself away for a century.
The Fallen Fire Sect and Earthflame Gate had somehow established contact through a secret art. Using the Fallen Fire Sect's inheritance and secret treasures as bait, they had lured everyone from the Black Corner Region inside.
Their purpose was to borrow the strength of others to revive the members of the Fallen Fire Sect.
The hundreds of Strong Experts in Myriad Fire Plaza had all become nourishment for the Fallen Fire Sect's resurrection!
Before you continue