Killing the Fire Kirin (Seeking Monthly Votes)

"Roar!"

As a beast's roar, tearing through the clouds, exploded, the ink-colored miasma coiling around the Fire Kirin detonated. It surged upwards like myriad torrents of magma, incinerating the poison barrier laid by the Plague God with a sizzling sound.

The Plague God transformed into a shadowy figure, flying backward into the void. The mass of black mist twisted like a waning candle in the firelight, eventually dispersing into wisps of green smoke to temporarily evade the sharp edge.

Just then, Qi Miaoxuan's charging figure suddenly blurred, transforming into a giant blade radiating mysterious light mid-stride.

The blade body, wrapped in the force of wind and thunder, chopped towards the Fire Kirin's flank. The sound of metal clashing echoed through the valley. A crack half a foot long appeared on the azure gold scales, and scalding crimson blood gushed from the wound, scorching the rock surface into trails of white smoke upon impact.

"It really is you, you dog thing!"

The Fire Kirin's scarlet pupils contracted sharply. It actually spoke human tongue, gazing at Qi Miaoxuan floating in the air and roaring, "Where is my child?"

Qi Miaoxuan, floating in the air, chuckled, "Beast, I took your little beast to stew. It tasted quite good, so I've come to catch you to stew further!"

"You deserve to die!"

The Fire Kirin's flames surged around its body like a volcanic eruption. The bloodline beneath its scales bulged like red snakes due to its rage. It stomped its forelegs on the ground, and dark blue fire tongues shot out from the cracked earth. Accompanied by a second roar that shattered the clouds, the giant beast fell into a state of burning, heart-devouring frenzy.

"Let me test your mettle!"

Gu Mo, holding the Grand Void Sword, unleashed a slash. Majestic sword qi surged towards the Fire Kirin like a great river breaching its banks.

The Fire Kirin's scarlet pupils contracted sharply. The magma churning in its chest cavity erupted with its violent rage. Its forelegs fiercely trampled the ground, and azure purple fire tongues shot out from the cracked stone. That beast roar, powerful enough to shatter the clouds, exploded first.

The sound waves rippled outwards like a tangible force, causing the air to hum. The surging sword qi was instantly shattered and dispersed.

"What a powerful Fire Kirin! I am no match for it!"

Gu Mo exclaimed loudly. He tapped his toes on the broken stones, twirling the Grand Void Sword into half a sword flower to block in front of him. He was blown back several steps by the energy wave, his hem fluttering in the wind.

Qi Miaoxuan looked bewildered.

However, he didn't have time to think, because the Fire Kirin had leaped into the air and pounced towards him, charging like a sun.

In that instant, Qi Miaoxuan's figure suddenly vanished as if ink dropped into boiling water.

As the Fire Kirin swung its flaming long tail in a sweep, a cold light flashed from beneath its ribs—it was a Broad-bladed Ghost-head Saber!

The blade edge cut through the air with the sound of wind and thunder. With a "clang," it struck the scales, splashing sparks and ploughing out a blood trough half an inch deep.

Before the Fire Kirin could turn, the blade light transformed into a streamer of light, flying back. It reformed into Qi Miaoxuan's figure thirty feet away. He flicked his fingertip, and blood beads rolled off the blade, scorching the ground into sizzling white smoke upon impact.

"Roar—!"

The Fire Kirin cried out in pain and violently raised its head, spitting out a fan-shaped pillar of fire. This flame was not the usual crimson but a glazed golden-red, causing even the air to ripple with distorted waves wherever it passed.

Just then, the Plague God's black mist wrapped around its neck like a ghostly figure. Dark green poisonous fog seeped from the black mist, infiltrating the texture through the gaps in its scales. The flames on the Fire Kirin's neck instantly dimmed, and spiderweb-like black spots appeared on its scales.

"The beast should die..."

A cold sneer from the Plague God echoed from the black mist. He allowed the Fire Kirin's flames to pass through his body repeatedly, burning and melting the black mist, only for it to reform in the next instant. No matter how the Fire Kirin burned him, it couldn't inflict any damage.

"Nascent Soul!"

The Fire Kirin roared, shaking its head. Explosions erupted from its mane, and the sound waves struck outwards like heavy hammers. Suddenly, the Fire Kirin spat out a stream of purple-red flame, instantly condensing into a Fire Lotus. The phantom of the Fire Lotus bloomed fiercely, and in the next moment, it instantly closed into a ball of fire. The air turned to ash in that instant, and the ground cracked inch by inch.

The Plague God was engulfed in the Fire Lotus like a moth to a flame. A piercing shriek erupted from the black mist. No matter how it struggled, it couldn't break free. This flame could even burn and imprison the Nascent Soul.

"Ah! Beast, you deserve to die..."

The Plague God transformed into streams of poisonous fog, crashing madly within the fireball, like headless flies. It suddenly roared, "You two, stop watching the fun!"

With the Plague God's roar, Qi Miaoxuan leaped into the air, transforming into a long spear and thrusting towards the fireball. Myriad spear energies rained down like silver rain through the forest. Under the dense impact, the fireball was actually pierced.

The Plague God immediately floated out from within, its poisonous fog condensing once more. It shouted, "Don't let your guard down, this beast controls the Great Dao Fire Source. Theoretically, it can burn anything..."

However, before the Plague God could finish speaking, The Fire Kirin had already charged into the void. Its figure was like a meteor crashing to the ground. As its front hooves descended, the air exploded with dazzling sparks.

The long spear that Qi Miaoxuan had transformed into buzzed and trembled under the giant beast's iron hooves. The mysterious light on the spear shattered inch by inch. His true form was thrown back like a broken string kite.

At this moment, the Fire Kirin spat out a beam of light towards Qi Miaoxuan. The moment the light beam pursued, Qi Miaoxuan crossed his arms in front of him. Golden light surged around him, and a golden great bell engraved with patterns boomed open.

"Dong--!"

Before the bell's chime faded, it shattered into myriad gold foils. The light beam, carrying the domineering power of the Great Dao Fire Source, slammed Qi Miaoxuan backward. The ground along the path was ploughed into scorched deep ravines, and shattered stones turned into flowing fire in the energy wave.

He finally crashed into the stone wall beside Gu Mo. The splashing lava was casually cut into powder by Gu Mo's sword.

Gu Mo's Grand Void Sword danced, creating sword flowers. The sword qi lifted by the sword tip extinguished the flames on Qi Miaoxuan's hem. He taunted, "Old Qi, you're not up to much either. How did you injure this Fire Kirin single-handedly back then?"

Qi Miaoxuan quickly stood up, patted the dust off himself, and transmitted his voice indignantly, "Kid, stop with the sarcasm. I do have a move that can kill the Fire Kirin, but I was saving it for you to deal with the Plague God later. If I use it now, how will we fight the Plague God later? Don't think the Plague God looks suppressed by the Fire Kirin right now; this guy is holding back!"

Gu Mo said, "You don't need to hold back. I really want to see that move of yours..."

"Stop messing around," Qi Miaoxuan said. "Kid, I know you have a sword technique that is unmatched in slaughter. Later, I'll get the Plague God to cooperate. We'll forcefully restrain the Fire Kirin, and you seize that instant to stab at a spot half a zhang below the Fire Kirin's right front leg. There's a wound there that I left back then. It can kill the Fire Kirin!"

At this moment, The Fire Kirin repelled the Plague God once more, then descended with sky-filling fire clouds. What spewed from the giant beast's nostrils was no longer flame, but solidified golden sound blades, slashing like countless ring-pommel sabers.

Instantly, the city wall and the ground were sliced off cleanly by the sound waves. Terrifying power surged towards Gu Mo and Qi Miaoxuan.

Qi Miaoxuan's hand instantly produced a bow. He pulled it back forcefully, and dense arrows appeared, transforming into myriad streamers of light that shot out, severing the sound waves. He himself transformed into an arrow and shot out in that instant, inflicting several wounds on the Fire Kirin and knocking off a few scales. Blood seeped from the gaps in its scales, turning into burning sparks, but those wounds were visibly wriggling and healing at an astonishing rate.

The Plague God's black mist slithered like a venomous snake towards the Fire Kirin's knee joint. Phantoms of human faces churned within the poisonous fog, gnawing at the newly formed scales.

The Fire Kirin swung its burning tailbone, its tip exploding with fireballs that smashed towards the arrow rain shot by Qi Miaoxuan like falling stars.

Golden-red firelight and myriad streamers of light collided with a roar. Amidst the debris kicked up by the energy wave, Qi Miaoxuan's figure flew backward like a broken string kite. However, before touching the rock wall, he suddenly transformed into a short blade, its edge gleaming with cold light as it stabbed directly towards the Fire Kirin's enraged, wide-open eye socket.

The Fire Kirin violently shook its head, its claws stirring up scorching fire winds as they swatted at the short blade. With a crisp "clang," sparks flew everywhere. Qi Miaoxuan's form dispersed again, transforming into a spear, then a halberd, then a shield, and other weapons that attacked the Kirin's body in turns. Each transformation carried a different Martial Dao True Intent—the spear thrust like a dragon breaking through blazing flames, the halberd sweep like waves shaking scales, the shield stood like a mountain blocking fire streams, directly causing the Fire Kirin to roar repeatedly, the sound of clashing metal in the void as dense as a downpour.

The Plague God's black mist remained like a shadow, seizing the moment the Fire Kirin raised its head to block Qi Miaoxuan's battle axe. It suddenly transformed into countless poison needles, shooting towards its gaping maw.

The instant the poisonous fog exploded in its throat, the pillar of fire spat out by the Fire Kirin turned a bizarre dark purple, like ink dropped into boiling water. Even the energy wave it spewed out carried a pungent, fishy sweetness.

It furiously stomped the ground, crushing it. The lava gushing from the cracks, upon contact with the Plague God's permeating poisonous fog, sizzled and solidified into purplish-black crystals, which then stabbed back towards the Kirin's feet like sharp thorns.

Simultaneously, the mountain-splitting axe Qi Miaoxuan had transformed into struck its shoulder blade with the force of wind and thunder. With a loud "clang," the azure gold scales cracked, but the flesh at the wound churned wildly like insects. Within seconds, harder new scales formed, their surface gleaming with the glaze of cooled lava.

Within the battle circle, Qi Miaoxuan's weapons changed like a kaleidoscope, restraining the Fire Kirin's movements. Each attack precisely landed on old wounds or the gaps between scales. The Plague God's poisonous fog, like a maggot clinging to bone, always seeped into the Kirin's texture during its defensive openings, slowing its regeneration speed.

The man and the Nascent Soul cooperated flawlessly. When Qi Miaoxuan transformed into a long whip and wrapped around the Kirin's neck, the Plague God's black mist took the opportunity to drill into its ear canal. When the Fire Kirin swung its tail to shake off Qi Miaoxuan's Heaven-Shattering Halberd, the Plague God had already laid down a poison barrier on the ground where it landed.

Although the azure gold giant beast possessed sky-burning blazing flames and an immortal body, it gradually became overwhelmed under such dense offensives. The flames on its body flickered unstably due to the corrosive poison. Each roar carried suppressed pain, and it was steadily suppressed in the center of the scorched earth by the two.

And at this moment, Gu Mo retreated to the rooftop of a ruined building, the Grand Void Sword already shimmering with light. He stood with his feet crushing tiles, his hem billowing like a sail from the invisible sword intent. The moment his sword tip pointed towards the sky dome, the cloud layer was split open by the sword intent, revealing a silver crack.

True qi flowed along the sword ridge and gathered, condensing into a one-inch light bead at the blade's tip. The bead pulsed unstably, each flicker causing the air to emit a faint explosive sound. He was pouring all his true intent into the sword embryo, brewing the "Vertical and Horizontal Sword Intent" capable of piercing the Fire Kirin's defense.

"Roar!"

The Fire Kirin sensed Gu Mo gathering strength. It suddenly arched its body and spewed out a ring of fire waves, blasting Qi Miaoxuan and the Plague God away. Then, it rushed towards Gu Mo.

Just then, Qi Miaoxuan's figure dispersed, transforming into thousands of profound iron chains that shot out from the ground cracks and the shadows of rock crevices. The chains danced like spirit snakes, weaving into an iron net in mid-air and covering the Fire Kirin's neck.

The Plague God's black mist seeped into the chain links like oil stains. Every inch that touched the Kirin's scales produced corrosive white smoke.

"Roar!"

The Fire Kirin wildly shook its head. The sound wave erupting from its mane made the iron chains hum. However, the poisonous fog spread backward along the chains, etching spider web cracks onto its throat scales. The chains suddenly tightened, and immense force erupted from where the links intersected, binding the Kirin's four hooves, which had been crushing the ground, like a tied-up zongzi. Even its swinging tail was tightly entangled by several chains.

"Gu Mo, make a move!"

Just as the Fire Kirin struggled fiercely, its scales spitting sparks, Qi Miaoxuan's shout echoed through the void.

That instant, Gu Mo's figure fell like a meteor tearing through the sky. The moment he landed, heaven and earth suddenly lost their color. The morning light within a ten-mile radius was swallowed by black ripples. The city wall faded to the plain white of xuan paper, and the entire world plunged into black and white.

The blazing flames around the burning Fire Kirin solidified into glass-like cracks. Even the splashing sparks were suspended in mid-air, like scattered crushed diamonds.

Time was twisted into a still string. The trajectory of the wind sweeping through tattered clouds was frozen into a ink wash scroll. The patterns of the crumbling stones hung in the air. Even in the Fire Kirin's wide-open pupils, the violent light had transformed into fireflies trapped in amber.

At the same moment, Gu Mo unleashed the Dao Heart Seed Demon Great Technique. Pale golden Nascent Soul light surged from his center of forehead, coiling around the Grand Void Sword's ridge like a living creature.

The sword body hummed with a dragon's roar within the black and white world. Ancient runes appearing on the sword body lit up one by one, like stars connecting to form a galaxy. Gu Mo's Nascent Soul power flowed along the sword's guard. The instant his fingertip touched the sword hilt, a sky-piercing sword intent exploded from the scabbard.

That instant, the Vertical and Horizontal Sword Intent erupted. The Grand Void Sword transformed into a streak of white light, tearing through the night curtain. Before its momentum even arrived, it had ploughed a three-zhang deep gully in the ground.

The Fire Kirin's scarlet pupils constricted. Just as it was about to lower its head and spew a pillar of fire, the white light had already precisely pierced the weakest scale gap wound on its chest armor.

Majestic sword intent exploded within the Fire Kirin the moment it pierced its heart.

A thunderous roar erupted from within the Fire Kirin. Azure gold blood mixed with flames spurted from the wound, and ice crystals rapidly condensed around the piercing wound.

Its huge body trembled violently. The light in its burning pupils gradually faded, and it finally let out a muffled sound before falling to the ground. Amidst the splashing flames, Gu Mo sheathed his sword, the blood beads on the blade already evaporated into wisps of white vapor by the sword intent.

"Boom!"

The moment the Fire Kirin fell, the ground suddenly trembled violently. The violent light in its burning pupils had not yet completely extinguished, and a low growl, unique to a dying beast and mixed with blood foam, came from its throat.

Its fiery red body suddenly arched, and broken ribs made crisp cracking sounds beneath its skin. The unhealed wound on its shoulder suddenly burst with scarlet gold sparks—this giant beast actually used its front hooves to support itself, attempting to lift its mountain-like body. The flames that had extinguished in its mane suddenly reignited, wrapping its limbs in glazed light flames.

"Roar..."

That roar carried the sound of tearing silk filled with unwillingness, shattering the tattered clouds in the sky and causing Gu Mo's Black and White Domain to instantly shatter like an illusion.

However, just as it placed one hind hoof on the ground, countless sharp sword qi suddenly erupted from within its body!

The Vertical and Horizontal Sword Intent attached by the Dao Heart Seed Demon Great Technique, which Gu Mo had injected into its heart meridian, suddenly erupted like sleeping thunder awakened, spreading from the piercing wound in a spider web pattern to its limbs and bones.

Azure gold blood mixed with ice crystals spurted out. Every drop condensed into a burning meteor in mid-air, while the sword qi bursting from the gaps between its scales flowed like a galaxy, severing its attempting-to-stand body, splashing sparks everywhere.

"Pfft—!"

A sword qi as thick as a wrist exploded from its tailbone, turning the city wall behind it into powder.

The Fire Kirin's huge body convulsed violently. The flames it had just condensed were shredded into countless light butterflies by the sword qi. Ice crystals crawled along its blood vessels to its heart, freezing its last trace of vitality.

It swung its head futilely, its horns smashing the lava pillars beside it, only to see more sword qi erupting from its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, weaving a dense sword net on its surface.

Finally, this giant beast that had once burned the sky and scorched the earth let out a long and mournful whimper. Its burning pupils completely turned to dead ash, and its huge body crashed down, shaking the ground into spider web-like deep ravines.

At that very instant, a System Prompt sounded in Gu Mo's mind:

[Killed Seven Star Wanted Criminal]

[Received Star Reward - Max Level Tathagata Divine Palm]

[Do you wish to receive?]

Gu Mo was a little surprised for a moment. He had actually killed it, and with such mortal power.

While the Fire Kirin was powerful in terms of energy and destructive force, in terms of life level, Gu Mo felt it couldn't compare to the Ascension Realm. At least, it would be difficult to kill an Ascension Realm cultivator with such pure mortal power.

But now, this Fire Kirin had been killed.

However, in this very instant, Gu Mo suddenly felt a peculiar energy emerge from the Fire Kirin's body. He looked up and saw a wisp of strange light seeping out from the Fire Kirin's body.

It was a thumb-sized purple flame, like solidified Star Fragments. As it hovered in the charred air, it caused the surrounding flames to lose their color. It was as small as a firefly, yet it flowed with Glazed Patterns like lava crystals on its surface. Every flicker released energy ripples that made space tremble, even causing Gu Mo's Nascent Soul in the center of his forehead to stir.

Without time to think, his fingertip drew upon the cold energy around him. In an instant, frost and mist gathered into a profound ice cage, which descended upon the purple flame like a giant clam closing its shell.

However, as soon as the ice sphere touched the edge of the flame, it was as if it had touched air. There was no temperature, no substance. The purple flame passed straight through the ice wall as if it were a phantom, and the Glazed Patterns on its surface became even brighter.

Gu Mo's pupils contracted sharply, and he instantly expanded his Black and White Domain. The world within a ten-zhang radius suddenly lost its color, burning debris hung suspended in mid-air, and even the flow of time rippled with stagnation.

But the purple flame still passed through the gray-white curtain of space without any obstruction, and still no substance could be felt.

Gu Mo's pupils contracted again, and his Nascent Soul power surged into the Grand Void Sword like an angry tide.

The sword blade exploded with a chilling green light, transforming into a flowing sword intent that slashed towards the purple flame. However, the moment the blade touched the flame, it felt as insubstantial as passing through a phantom.

He could only watch helplessly as the wisp of purple flame floated away, completely unable to obstruct it.

Just then, From the void, dozens of deep red Iron Chains suddenly emerged, instantly binding the purple flame. Then, with a "crack, crack" sound, the iron chains twisted and coiled frantically, quickly forming a Blood-red Iron Ball the size of a fist that trapped the purple flame and descended rapidly.

At the same time, a figure appeared from the void. It was Qi Miaoxuan. He caught the blood-red iron ball in one hand and chuckled, "Gu Mo, you asked me before what method there was to kill Bai Yujing. I told you there were two methods, but I only told you one then. Now, I'll tell you the second one!"

Gu Mo recalled the night he had arrived in Mobei more than ten days ago, when he had asked Qi Miaoxuan for a way to deal with Bai Yujing. At that time, Qi Miaoxuan had only mentioned the first method: to possess power at the same Life Level as Bai Yujing.

Because Ye Jinglan had interrupted then, Gu Mo had forgotten to ask about the second method.

Qi Miaoxuan said, "The second method is to kill it like we killed the Fire Kirin. In fact, the origin of the Fire Kirin and the origin of Bai Yujing are the same."

Qi Miaoxuan weighed the iron ball in his hand and said, "This purple flame is the Ancestral Fire of heaven and earth. For various reasons, it developed sentience, transformed into the Fire Kirin, and became a being with true existence.

In reality, the highest Life Level in this world is the Ascension Realm. Bai Yujing and the Ancestral Fire are not life forms at that level. You can understand it as being above Ascension, or you can understand it as a Pattern.

Patterns cannot be killed, but a Pattern with a life form can have its sentience killed. As for the true body, it can be sealed with matter of the same level, like this iron ball in my hand.

Therefore, if you want to kill Bai Yujing, you can also wait or guide Bai Yujing's sentience to mature and become a true life form, just like this Fire Kirin. Once its sentience is erased, it would take countless years and countless Chance Encounters for Bai Yujing to possibly develop sentience again and have the ability to wreak havoc on the human world."

Gu Mo nodded and said, "So that's how it is!"

Just then, the Fire Realm disappeared, and the heat in the world vanished instantly. But, in this very instant.

The sky curtain was suddenly soaked in black mist. The thick black mist poured down like churning asphalt from the Nine Heavens, swallowing all the streets and buildings.

The last wisp of daylight was dragged by the mist tide and sank into the horizon. The world fell into a viscous dimness, with only distorted mist shadows floating in the void like drowning souls, sometimes gathering into ferocious ghost faces, sometimes transforming into claws that tore through the night curtain, emitting faint screeches in the permeating miasma.

"Long Life Being, Gu Mo..."

In the dimness, amidst the swirling black mist, the Plague God floated in the void, faintly visible, and spoke in a muffled voice: "We bear no mortal enmity. Now, the Fire Kirin has been killed, and your purpose has been achieved. I can let you take away the Fire Kirin's body. From now on, we shall mind our own business. How about it?"

Gu Mo and Qi Miaoxuan exchanged a glance.

They both nodded simultaneously. Then Qi Miaoxuan suddenly charged towards the Plague God and transmitted his voice: "Gu Mo, make a move!"

That instant, Qi Miaoxuan directly transformed into a blade, instantly shattering the domain formed by the Plague God, and simultaneously cutting through the black mist around the Plague God. He instantly changed back into human form and forced the Plague God's Nascent Soul Body out of the black mist with a palm strike.

At the same time, Gu Mo thrust his sword. The Black and White Domain descended. He teleported, his Nascent Soul power attached to the Grand Void Sword, and once again unleashed the Vertical and Horizontal Sword Intent.

This sword strike was so fast it was traceless.

With this sword strike, Gu Mo's Nascent Soul left his body.

However, this sword strike did not hit the Plague God's Nascent Soul Body. Instead, it pierced directly into Qi Miaoxuan's chest, then passed through his heart and emerged from his back.

That instant, The Nascent Soul and the sword passed through Qi Miaoxuan's body and then disappeared.

Qi Miaoxuan looked down at the blood hole in his chest, then slowly raised his head, a light laugh appearing on his face: "When... when did you find out?"