Yao Chen, Betrayed by Your Own Disciple and Junior Brother, Reduced to This State-Are You Willing to Accept It?

"It was nothing."

Qing Luo chuckled softly. "I have some matters to handle. Wait for me a moment."

With that,

before Xiao Yan could react,

Qing Luo vanished from sight.

Not far away,

within the dense forest, Qing Luo stepped out from the depths of space,

then casually tossed the Black Ring in his hand and said,

"Show yourself. I have something to discuss with you."

Buzz—

As Qing Luo's voice fell,

the ring he had thrown was shrouded in a wisp of white mist.

The white mist grew increasingly dense,

until it finally took the vague form of a silver-haired old man.

The old man wore an ancient silver alchemist's robe. Though his figure was illusory, his bearing was elegant. Rather than inspiring awe,

he naturally gave off a sense of warmth and approachability.

He was none other than the Venerable Yao described in the original work—Yao Chen!

"This junior is Venerable Yao, master of Falling Star Pavilion and the foremost alchemist in the Central Plains, Yao Chen. Greetings, Senior!"

The moment his illusory figure solidified, he respectfully addressed Qing Luo.

Although Qing Luo appeared young,

he was indeed a genuine Dou Saint!

Earlier,

Yao Chen had already awakened and sensed what had happened in the Xiao Family's hall.

He knew that the person before him had close ties

with the major powers of the Central Plains.

Leaving everything else aside, anyone who dared lay a hand on the Gu Clan's imperial daughter possessed courage and audacity far beyond ordinary people.

Seeing that Qing Luo made no response,

Yao Chen's eyes flickered thoughtfully as he hesitantly asked,

"Senior, this junior has never had any dealings with the Emperor Alliance, but for some reason, you feel somewhat familiar..."

At those words,

Qing Luo slightly raised his gaze and spread his right hand.

A milky-white fire lotus rose from his palm.

As the fire lotus slowly revolved,

Venerable Yao could clearly sense the surrounding natural energy rapidly vanishing. Even his soul body began to dissolve in a strange manner.

"Th-this... could this be that legendary Heavenly Flame?!"

Upon seeing the flame in Qing Luo's palm,

Yao Chen's eyes filled with disbelief, shock, and confusion.

That fire lotus,

whether in its traits or in the feeling it gave him, greatly resembled the third-ranked Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.

Yet for some reason,

he felt that something was wrong, though he could not say what it was.

"You have a good eye!"

Qing Luo said calmly, "I am the third-ranked Heavenly Flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking: the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame!"

"It really is..."

A dazed expression appeared on Yao Chen's face.

Just as he was about to marvel at having witnessed the third-ranked existence on the Heavenly Flame Ranking,

the next moment,

Yao Chen froze as though struck by lightning.

His gaze toward Qing Luo

was filled with overwhelming terror and shock. His already illusory eyes trembled violently...

"I..."

"Not that fire lotus—Senior, you mean..."

Yao Chen's voice trembled.

"That's right. The Demon Flame is my true body!"

Qing Luo did not hide it and answered frankly.

Hiss—

Hearing this,

even though Yao Chen had already suspected it, he could not help drawing in sharp breaths.

The third-ranked Heavenly Flame?!

It had actually taken human form and walked the world...

What kind of godlike being was this?!

No wonder he had always instinctively felt fear when facing Qing Luo.

Originally,

Yao Chen had thought it was because of Qing Luo's cultivation. But thinking back, when Qing Luo appeared, the first to feel fear had not been him,

but the Bone-Chilling Cold Flame within him...

That sense of familiarity must have come from the Bone-Chilling Cold Flame as well.

No wonder

he had felt that something was off when he saw that fire lotus.

That fire lotus had been too weak...

The third-ranked Heavenly Flame

was a terrifying existence capable of burning Saints to ash.

Back when he was in the Central Plains,

the Demon Flame Plains, which opened once every thousand years, had buried how many Venerables and Dou Saints?!

He had not been qualified to set foot there,

but his fear of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame had long been carved into his bones.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that merely mentioning it changed one's expression.

After all,

those who understood Heavenly Flames best were alchemists like them, people who dealt with flames.

"Yao Chen, back when you were at Falling Star Pavilion, you were betrayed by your own disciple and junior brother and reduced to this state. Are you willing to accept it?"

Just as Yao Chen was shocked that the third-ranked Heavenly Flame had taken human form and appeared before him,

Qing Luo spoke in an even tone.

Boom—

Betrayed and fallen from Falling Star Pavilion...

Yet Qing Luo's calm words stirred up towering hatred within Yao Chen's heart.

The disciple he had painstakingly nurtured,

the junior brother he had always cared for and regarded as family, whom he had not hated even after he joined the Hall of Souls...

had actually joined hands to plot against him.

Was he willing to accept it?

He was not!

Betrayed by the two people closest to him in a single day...

How could he possibly accept it?

Had he not escaped at the final moment with the power of the Bone-Chilling Cold Flame, he would already be dead.

For all these years,

he had struggled to survive and evaded the Hall of Souls' pursuit just to hear an answer from his disciple's own mouth.

Why?

Why had all of this happened?!

Noticing that Yao Chen's entire body was trembling,

Qing Luo slightly raised his right hand.

The next moment,

a solid soul body appeared before Yao Chen.

Although it was somewhat unfamiliar at first glance, different from the figure in his memories,

the instant he saw that soul body,

Yao Chen still recognized its identity.

It was his beloved disciple,

Han Feng!

The moment he recognized Han Feng, Yao Lao's whole body trembled.

He had never imagined

that he and that disciple would meet again in such a manner...

"Senior... please, as long as you do not kill me, I will give you anything you want. The Flame Mantra you took is only half a volume. I know where the complete Flame Mantra is..."

"Senior, as long as you do not kill me, I can give you the complete Flame Mantra!"

Han Feng, whom Qing Luo had released,

only knelt before Qing Luo and begged for mercy, failing to notice that another soul body stood behind him.

"Traitorous disciple!!!"

Yao Chen roared.

Upon hearing that familiar voice,

Han Feng's soul body abruptly froze.

Then,

he turned his head in confusion. When he saw the familiar figure floating behind him, Han Feng's voice became incomparably shrill.

"Master..."

"No, you're already dead. It isn't you—it's an illusion... It must be an illusion!"

Han Feng's mind became muddled.

He refused to believe what he saw, yet his soul body instinctively retreated in the opposite direction,

unwilling to face the master who had raised and taught him!

"Wretch!"

Yao Chen roared.

With a sweep of his hand, an eerie flame surged forth. As that flame burned, the surrounding temperature dropped to freezing in an instant.

The surrounding sea of trees was coated in frost.

"Bone-Chilling Cold Flame?!"

The instant he saw the flame, Han Feng's eyes filled with terror.

Before he could react,

the Bone-Chilling Cold Flame poured out from Yao Chen's palm, binding Han Feng's soul within it.

As the flames of the Bone-Chilling Cold Flame rose with their extreme coldness,

a layer of frost covered Han Feng's soul body. He shivered as his aura rapidly weakened.

"Master... spare me. I should never have listened to Venerable Mu Gu's lies. Master... I was wrong!"

Feeling death closing in,

Han Feng could no longer suppress the fear in his heart and knelt before Yao Chen...

Han Feng was a soul body

and could not shed tears,

but the pleading expression on his face still made Yao Chen's heart tremble fiercely.