Is My Fiancé Dead?

"The Great Elder is going to make a move against the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame..."

"That is the third-ranked existence on the Heavenly Flame Ranking!"

"Even if it is ranked third on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, it is ultimately only a Dou Zun. Perhaps... after today, the Pill Tower may truly gain control of this Heavenly Flame!"

Feeling the Dou Saint pressure spreading across the heavens,

Xuan Kongzi, Tianleizi, Xuanyi, and the other Dou Zun experts instinctively retreated again and again.

Dou Zun, Dou Saint!

Though they were separated by only a single realm,

the gap between them was as deep as a chasm, as different as clouds and mud. They could not be mentioned in the same breath at all.

Old Monster Lin's attitude

also allowed them to guess the intentions of the Pill Tower's Great Elder!

That was the third-ranked Heavenly Flame...

To alchemists like them, it possessed an irresistible allure!

"Old Monster Lin, are you truly going to oppose me?"

Qing Luo's gaze was cold, and his tone sinister.

"Heh heh, I have lived for nearly ten thousand years and seen countless unruly Heavenly Flames. Yet never has a single one dared barge into the Pill Tower and threaten me..."

Old Monster Lin's voice, wrapped in saintly power, shattered the star mist filling the sky and swept away the heavy pressure.

"Today, I shall let you know that the gulf between a Dou Zun and a Dou Saint is an impassable chasm. Even if you are the origin of a Heavenly Flame, you will not escape my grasp!"

As his words fell,

Old Monster Lin slowly raised his withered hand.

A seal formed from a Heaven-tier Dou Technique pressed down upon the heavens. The stars overhead and the saintly pressure of the Pill Territory merged into a gigantic palm that stretched across the sky.

Wherever the palm passed, space collapsed layer by layer, tearing open turbulent spatial currents.

Old Monster Lin did not hesitate in the slightest.

The saintly power around him was driven to its utmost limit. Wherever the massive palm passed, the heavens were illuminated with brilliant golden light, while fragments of stars rained down without end.

Feeling the vast saintly pressure locking onto him from all sides,

Qing Luo's expression grew increasingly gloomy.

Only now did he see Old Monster Lin's true intentions.

There had been nothing wrong with his idea of coming to the Pill Tower to seek cooperation.

Qing Luo had merely underestimated

the attraction Heavenly Flames held for these alchemists,

especially

failures like Old Monster Lin, who had entered the Dou Saint realm without obtaining a Heavenly Flame of his own...

"You want to refine me? Do you have the right?"

Rather than growing angry, Qing Luo laughed.

His laughter was cold and arrogant as the pressure unique to the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame exploded between heaven and earth.

Milky-white flaming lotuses coiled around Qing Luo's body.

Boundless lotus flames spread across the sky in layer upon layer.

White flaming lotuses, each several yards wide, bloomed one after another from the depths of space.

Within their lotus hearts surged scorching heat capable of melting a Dou Zun's soul...

Qing Luo had miscalculated the human heart.

The strength of a Seven-Star Dou Zun was incapable of opposing a Two-Star Dou Saint,

especially within the Pill Territory.

Qing Luo could feel that, as Old Monster Lin attacked, the hidden formations throughout the Pill Territory had already begun operating in silence, cutting off his retreat and intending to trap him here forever.

However,

from the moment Qing Luo stepped into the Pill Territory, he had never left himself a way out.

As this thought flashed through his mind,

Qing Luo directly burned all the origin within his body.

The lotus flames around him gathered into his body, transforming him into a sacred flaming lotus dozens of yards tall.

"So it truly is the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. If I capture you, I will have made my name throughout the Central Plains..."

"Suppress!"

Seeing Qing Luo reveal his true form,

the fervor in Old Monster Lin's eyes could no longer be contained.

His shriveled hand erupted with supreme saintly light once more. The terrifying combat power unique to a peak Two-Star Dou Saint descended upon Qing Luo without any restraint.

"Do you think... things will truly go as you wish?"

With those words,

Qing Luo said nothing further. Transforming into a sacred white lotus, he drifted slowly toward the enormous palm enveloped in saintly power above the nine-story tower.

Beneath the dazzling, translucent giant saintly palm,

the white lotus was dyed with a layer of brilliant golden light. The sacred Pure Lotus, dozens of yards tall, slowly unfurled its petals.

Crystal-clear radiance flowed across the petals.

Within them coursed terrifying flames capable of melting the very origin of a soul.

Though it was filled with boundless killing intent,

the sight was breathtakingly beautiful.

All the Pill Tower experts below held their breath. Xuan Kongzi clenched his fists tightly, watching this scene in terror.

Third on the Heavenly Flame Ranking...

A Two-Star Dou Saint!

Either one was a terrifying existence capable of shaking the entire continent...

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Above the heavens,

there was not a single extraneous sound.

Only that scene of ultimate beauty was reflected in everyone's eyes.

Suddenly,

the Pure Lotus violently contracted inward, gathering all its power before crashing viciously into the saintly palm seal stretching across the heavens.

Boom—

After a brief silence,

a tremendous blast echoed through the sky, and the entire space of the Pill Territory shook violently...

Three levels of the nine-story Pill Tower were erased by the might of the Pure Lotus.

Only half the tower remained standing amid the shattered earth...

Rumble—

The shattered three levels of the tower fell like a torrent of stardust.

At the center where the Pure Lotus and golden palm seal collided,

an incomparably blinding wave of energy transformed into visible ripples that swept in every direction.

Wherever the aftermath swept,

space shattered inch by inch, while green mountains and pavilions were instantly vaporized by the terrifying heat,

turning into rolling black flames that shot into the heavens...

In midair,

Xuan Kongzi, Tianleizi, Xuanyi, and the other Dou Zuns desperately activated their protective Dou Qi.

The barriers around them hummed and trembled without end.

Layers of protective Dou Qi were torn apart.

The reclusive Dan Zuns and tower-guarding elders, amid such a clash,

were as insignificant as lone boats upon a vast sea. They were sent flying uncontrollably, their blood and Qi churning as they vomited blood, utterly unable to stabilize themselves.

Above the heavens,

within the rolling black smoke, one of Old Monster Lin's arms had been blown off, and the edges of his gray alchemist robes had been completely burned away.

A stream of golden saintly blood sprayed from his mouth.

Much of the heat and ecstasy in his eyes faded. He had not expected the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame to be so terrifying,

that it could, with the body of a Dou Zun,

shake a Saint...

However,

compared to the gains he was about to obtain, Old Monster Lin could not suppress the excitement in his heart.

Afterward,

Old Monster Lin spread his soul across the entire Pill Territory, searching for traces of the Heavenly Flame's origin!

Yet the result of his search

made Old Monster Lin freeze where he stood.

"How is this possible..."

"The entire Pill Territory has already been sealed off. How did the origin of the Heavenly Flame disappear?!"

No...

It had to still be hidden somewhere in the Pill Territory.

"Did we win?"

"Heavens, even the Pill Tower was destroyed..."

"What terrifying power. Is this the third-ranked existence on the Heavenly Flame Ranking? It actually managed to clash head-on with a Saint?!"

Looking at the devastated scene after the explosion,

undisguised lingering fear appeared on the faces of Xuan Kongzi, Tianleizi, and Xuanyi.

"Is my fiancé... dead?"

Hiding behind Xuan Kongzi,

unable to see the pure white lotus any longer, Cao Ying's eyes gradually reddened as she sobbed in grievance.

"Everyone, immediately search for the Demon Flame's origin! Report the moment you find it. He dared destroy my Pill Tower— even if I must dig three feet into the ground, I will find him!"

Xuan Kongzi had just been about to explain

when he heard the Great Elder's low, furious voice from above the heavens.

"Yes, sir!"

Xuan Kongzi did not dare delay.

After cupping his hands and accepting the order,

he had the old woman responsible for watching over Cao Ying take her away,

then led the Pill Tower's reclusive experts to search for the origin of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame...

Elsewhere,

deep within the Soul Realm, the late night was silent, and heaven and earth were shrouded in dense black mist all year round.

Within this continent's darkest,

most oppressive forbidden ground,

a pitch-black flame floated silently in the deepest part of the black mist, emanating terrifying pressure of the saintly grade!