"Hum-hum-hum!" The massive pressure made it arduous for Xiao Yan and the two others to advance. Each step they took across the mountain rocks caused a tremor, yet it only bought them a hair's breadth of progress. Clearly only a hundred meters away, their moving speed was as slow as a snail, not to mention the bizarre auras inside some of the coffins on the surrounding mountains that seemed to be resisting Xiao Yan and the others, leaving them besieged from front and back.
Xun Er's aura is getting closer and closer... Looking at the summit, which was merely a hundred meters away, the Soul Jade in Xiao Yan's hand also emitted waves of warm temperature. It was obviously extremely close to Xun Er's hiding place. At that moment, Xiao Yan could not care about how scarred his body was or how immense the pressure was; braving this oppression, he gritted his teeth and walked forward step by step. He did not even feel any burden for this, a hint of comfort and guilt lingering in his heart.
Decades had passed since Breaking the Void of Five Emperors. During these decades, in order to search for and explore the secrets of the Xiao Clan and also to enhance his strength, he had constantly traveled across various realms to increase his power, but Xun Er was the last one he had found. This undoubtedly made Xiao Yan feel quite self-reproachful at heart.
Xiao Yan knew full well that Xun Er possessed a cold and detached personality, but in an unfamiliar place where she had no connections, Xiao Yan inevitably worried that Xun Er would be bullied while he was not by her side...
At the summit of the towering mountain range within this Holy Land, layers of mist completely shrouded its appearance. Neither soul power nor any other kind of power could sense anything of it at all, though a trace of the golden giant cocoon could still be faintly seen, looking rather eerie.
"Don't blame yourself. You've already done very well."
"Xun Er won't blame you. I remember her saying that she didn't want to lose to anyone... because she also wants to accompany you to step onto the peak and look at that different scenery." Gu Yuan keenly perceived Xiao Yan touching the scene and feeling sad, placed a hand on Xiao Yan's shoulder, and then laughed, speaking of the little secret Xun Er had hidden deep in her heart.
"Mn, Dad, let's walk together." Hearing this, Xiao Yan's body suddenly trembled. Evidently, hearing these words spoken from Gu Yuan's mouth carried a formidable impact. He could clearly know that the once innocent and carefree girl had probably also had it extremely difficult all these years.
Yet from now on, whatever remained would be carried entirely by himself.
"Rumble!" A series of massive sonic booms of energy repelled and pushed against the bodies of Xiao Yan and the others, seemingly intentionally blocking them from stepping into the space at the summit of the Holy Land.
"The restrictions of this Holy Land are far too tyrannical, and there seems to be something existing within the mountain summit that makes my heart uneasy." Forcing his teeth together once more to try and break through, Xiao Yan was instantly blasted flying by a ripple of formless energy. He could not help but climb up from the mid-mountain waist and speak to the other two.
"There's no help for it." The Peerless Heavenly Emperor and Gu Yuan were likewise sent barrelling back in rather battered states one after the other just like Xiao Yan. The three of them gathered around the mid-level waist of the mountain range and muttered to themselves.
"What on earth is going on here?"
"Didn't that lord tell me that there is a Sacred Flame residing within the Holy Land... What is this situation now?" Watching Xiao Yan and the others furrow their brows, Snake-Scorpion Xue'er instead gazed slowly at the mist-steeped mountain summit and asked in confusion.
"Hum-hum-hum!" A blink later, Snake-Scorpion Xue'er's body trembled abruptly, and a fear originating from the depths of her soul was released uncontrollably!
"A Sacred Flame?"
"The ancestors of the Gu Clan?" Snake-Scorpion Xue'er had ten thousand doubts in her heart. However, there actually existed something within the Holy Land that even the leaders of the three great giants feared, and coupled with her heavy injuries, her momentum weakened for a time.
Yet that fluctuation just now was unmistakably the exclusive aura of a Sacred Flame, only that kind of power was countless times more tyrannical than the Sacred Flame fire on Xiao Yan's body!
If her severely injured self were to face it directly, she would probably be instantly destroyed in both body and soul!
"Senior, is there any way to bypass these restrictions and step directly onto the mountain summit?" After a brief discussion, Xiao Yan also asked hurriedly. This sort of thing left him completely helpless, but the destination was right ahead, so giving up was naturally not Xiao Yan's style.
The soul power of the Soul Jade had completely locked onto the mountain summit, and Xun Er was located right there at the top, making Xiao Yan quite anxious.
"I don't know."
"In the past, the Holy Land was completely peaceful and never as severe as it is now. This kind of restriction is probably triggered autonomously because the Holy Land sensed the evil aura of the outside world. Wanting to crack it by relying on our strength is simply impossible," the Peerless Heavenly Emperor said, shaking his head. Given the formidable nature of the Holy Land, let alone Eight-Star Dou Xian, even some ordinary Reincarnation Experts would be helpless against it, let alone the few of them.
"Moreover, I remember that the coffins within these mountain ranges are all the remains of fallen Gu Clan experts, which contain peerless power. How come they have all vanished now?" Gu Yuan's gaze flickered as he asked in confusion.
"Senior, what if I use the aura of the Sacred Flame as a conduit? I wonder if that might work?" A moment later, a light dawned in Xiao Yan's heart. Combining the missing remains with the news of the Sacred Flame, he had a sudden brainstorm.
Since there was a Sacred Flame residing within this Holy Land, using the Sacred Flame as a conduit himself would likely be enough to have a hundred responses to a single call, and all problems would be readily solved by then!
"Things have come to this, we can only give it a try." The Peerless Heavenly Emperor and Gu Yuan exchanged a glance and agreed.
"Step back a bit." Once Xiao Yan finished speaking, the brilliant amber-colored flames around his body slowly rose.
"Hum-hum-hum!" Just as the Sacred Flame rose around Xiao Yan's body, the golden giant cocoon in the sky above the mountain range suddenly produced a series of tremors, and immediately, streaks of golden light patterns, like bright light beams piercing the dark night, transformed into raindrops a moment later and scattered in all directions.
"This is... the energy aura of the Gu Clan ancestors?"
"That's impossible, right?"
"Could this lass have gained the recognition of countless ancestors?"
"Yet from ancient times until now, not a single person has ever been able to..." Watching the golden raindrops drift all around as wave after wave of intense heat surged out, the Peerless Heavenly Emperor could not help crying out in disbelief, a solemn aura flooding his heart.
"Hum-hum-hum!" Simultaneously, the Flame Mantra within Xiao Yan's body, the Sacred Flame Crystal, the Amber Rock Soul Fire, and so on all trembled directly at that moment, and an aura of prostration was released along with them.
With a "thud," a wheel of golden scorching sun slowly descended in the sky like a divine being, its endless glory displaying supreme majesty and decorating the entire Holy Land to look like a holy temple.
A golden scorching sun, golden light, and golden flames. Following the view downward beneath these three, a delicate, graceful silhouette sitting slightly upright was quietly entrenched, an ethereal aura spreading outward. At the center of her brow, a golden crow gold pattern flickered faintly, extraordinarily profound.
"Swish-swish!"
"Impossible!" At that moment, Snake-Scorpion Xue'er's eyes abruptly constricted. A fear stemming from the bottom of her heart manifested from head to toe, and the chilling aura of death made her truly moved!
"Gulp."
"This is... the supreme Sacred Flame ranked eighth on the Sacred Flame Rankings." Inside Xiao Yan's mind, there was a rare trace of dizziness and a hint of astonishment.
Could the beautiful, delicate figure sitting quietly before him not be the very Xun Er he had been longing for day and night?
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