"Clang, clang. Clang."
It sounded like Divine Iron being hammered, and the Lihuo Divine Furnace was immediately beaten full of dents and pits.
It looked as though it could shatter at any moment, yet it stubbornly maintained its rough shape.
"Fire Phoenix Shines Upon the World!" the Supreme Elder shouted.
The enormous bronze furnace towering in the sky suddenly released a fire phoenix. It spread its wings and soared into the heavens, flames surging as endless divine power blazed fiercely.
The phoenix's cry shook the heavens, clear and distant, carrying an aura of nobility and mystery.
Eighty-one streams of blazing magma surged backward like rivers, forming fearsome waterfalls of fire.
Scarlet light filled the sky, illuminating the entire heavens. Even the distant mountain peaks were scorched into a desolate sight.
Such a scorching scene inspired endless fear and reverence, as though the flaming giant bird possessed the power to destroy heaven and earth.
The battle between dragon and phoenix was mysterious and magnificent.
Above the heavens, divine dragons condensed from Imperial Dragon Qi roiled with overwhelming auras.
The dragons formed from Imperial Dragon Qi were dozens of zhang long. Their scales glimmered with golden light, their claws seemed to clutch suns, and powerful, mysterious strength shone from their eyes. Their roars shook heaven and earth, making hearts tremble.
The fire phoenix was graceful and incomparably beautiful, its flames burning with an indescribable power as the inferno raged.
The Phoenix Dance fluttered gracefully, illuminating the entire battlefield in an instant as mysterious radiance filled the sky.
Dragon and phoenix tangled together. Imperial Dragon Qi wore away the fire phoenix's flames, while the divine power of fire continuously shattered the Imperial Dragon Qi.
The battle grew increasingly fierce, but there was ultimately only one fire phoenix. Even with the Lihuo Divine Furnace supporting it, it was difficult for it to resist nine divine dragons.
For the moment, neither side could determine victory or defeat. Xia Weier's eyes flickered. Since she could not deal with the Lihuo Divine Furnace, dealing with the person controlling it would solve the problem just as well.
Xia Weier stepped through the Void and used Nine Secrets: Xing to ascend through the air. Her long dress fluttered like an immortal descending into the mortal world, and she crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, arriving beside the Supreme Elder.
Imperial radiance flickered in her palm, condensing into a Divine Dragon Seal that shot toward the Supreme Elder and pressed down upon him.
"This is what I've been waiting for!" the Supreme Elder roared. His voice seemed to carry a strange rhythm, causing Xia Weier to lose focus for a moment.
After being battered by the nine dragons, the dented Divine Furnace flew back in an instant, leaving the fire phoenix behind to block the divine dragons formed from Imperial Dragon Qi.
The furnace lid opened, and Lihuo flames surged into the heavens. A mountain caught in their wake instantly turned into a river of magma.
Xia Weier had only just regained her senses and begun resisting the flames when all the fire suddenly contracted inward. The Divine Furnace became like a black hole, devouring heaven and earth.
A terrifying force of suction descended, and Xia Weier was instantly drawn into the bronze furnace standing between heaven and earth.
Five-colored radiance flowed. The crystal-clear, glazed lid flew back with a clang, sealing the furnace and suppressing her within.
The Supreme Elder appeared atop the furnace lid, intending to completely suppress and refine Xia Weier.
Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Jiang Yun, desperate to save his wife, summoned an enormous Yin-Yang millstone carrying an ancient aura. It crushed the unprepared Supreme Elder to pieces.
Even at his death, the Supreme Elder could not understand what had happened.
After all, the Lihuo Divine Furnace was a weapon Hengyu had used before becoming a Great Emperor. If it triggered any divine power, the consequences would be terrifying. Jiang Yun did not dare let Xia Weier remain inside.
Without the Supreme Elder's suppression, the furnace lid burst open. Surrounded by Imperial Dragon Qi, Xia Weier rushed out of the Divine Furnace.
Looking closely, she saw Jiang Yun nearby, while that old man had vanished. She let out a soft breath of relief.
"Hubby, even if you hadn't shown up, I could've fought my way out." Xia Weier waved her little fists a few times, looking adorably fierce.
With no one controlling the Lihuo Divine Furnace, Jiang Yun put it away. The one-inch-tall furnace was crystal-clear, as though forged from dazzling crystal, and exceptionally extraordinary.
"Wasn't I worried about you? Wei'er, you performed incredibly well today." Jiang Yun praised her.
Before this, Xia Weier had only killed a few bandits in the Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm. For someone with a somewhat timid personality, it was already remarkably rare for her first battle against someone two realms above her to reach this level.
Being timid by nature was fine, as long as she did not become hesitant in battle. Jiang Yun had been worried about that before.
"Is this their sect-protecting Divine Furnace? Why does it look somewhat familiar?" Xia Weier was also drawn to the Lihuo Divine Furnace.
There were some faint carvings on its body, extremely unclear. They had likely gradually worn away with the passage of time.
Looking carefully, she could make out a Sun and several divine birds wreathed in flames, but the markings were too indistinct to identify.
"Doesn't it look a little like an imitation of the Jiang Family's Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon, the Hengyu Furnace?" Jiang Yun said with a smile.
Xia Weier's eyes lit up, and she quickly nodded. Both Jiang Yun and Jiang Shuanglan were members of the Jiang Family, so she naturally knew about the Hengyu Furnace.
"Do you think it's possible that the Hengyu Furnace was forged by imitating this?" Jiang Yun revealed the truth.
No matter how much Xia Weier trusted her husband, she still looked unconvinced. "How could that be possible? Impossible."
Extreme Dao Weapons were the pinnacle of weapons. If their power fully awakened, they could casually annihilate starfields spanning hundreds of millions of li and collapse black holes.
The Jiang Family had produced a Great Emperor, while Jade Pool had produced an Empress Mother. It was precisely because such figures had created world-shaking ancient scriptures and left behind Extreme Dao Weapons that their factions stood high above the mundane world, flourishing even after more than a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand years.
If this Divine Furnace truly had such an origin, then no matter how arrogant she was, she would not believe she could leave marks on it.
Jiang Yun smiled without offering much explanation. Such a thing was simply too fantastical. No one would dare believe it.
Emperor Hengyu truly loved playing the pig to eat the tiger. The weapons he forged were layered one within another.
The Lihuo Divine Furnace and the Goddess Furnace could hold their own against any weapon below the Quasi-Emperor realm.
What a twisted sense of humor.
The disciples below finally came to their senses. With even the Supreme Elder reduced to nothing but dust, they scattered like headless flies, trying to flee and hide.
Jiang Yun swept out his divine sense like a streak of light, finding and killing them one by one. With the great formation covering the area, none could escape.
When everything settled, the Lihuo Sect's once picturesque oasis, like an Immortal State in the mortal world, had been ravaged beyond recognition by the aftermath of battle.
Only when another person came to take control of the oasis would it be restored to its former state.
He gathered all the great banners and lifted the seal over the oasis. Even if passing cultivators discovered this place, Jiang Yun no longer cared.
Having obtained the Lihuo Divine Furnace, and with the sky nearing dusk, he took Xia Weier and headed straight for the Azure Cloud Sect.
Today, he would wipe out Mysterious Moon Cave, the Azure Cloud Sect, and Seven Stars Pavilion together. Otherwise, delays might bring unforeseen changes, and it would be troublesome if they escaped.
The other sects did not possess a divine treasure like the Lihuo Divine Furnace to suppress them. Jiang Yun gave them no time to react, sweeping through them one by one without wantonly destroying their mountain gates.
Amid the boundless desolation of the Northern Region, oases were rare treasures. In such a lifeless land, no patch of pure ground should be destroyed.
He still intended to remain here for some time. He did not want to settle in a barren, endless place filled with red earth, devastation, and not a blade of grass.
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