The jade-green crystal lotus pedestal drifted down between Tang Chuan and Zhou Yi.
Then it exploded!
Boom!
An earth-shaking blast tore through the alley, ripping up its entire surface.
A terrifying wave of fire swept outward in every direction like a tsunami.
The courtyard walls on both sides melted instantly wherever the scorching torrent passed.
The shockwave hurled Zhou Yi away.
She lost consciousness in midair, her body arcing through the sky.
Then, as if by perfect design, she landed in front of Huo Yuhao.
Like a loyal shield, she protected him from the blast.
Heh!
Huo Yuhao chuckled inwardly.
Felix Felicis really is powerful!
It even got me a human shield. Now that's special treatment!
Sweet!
At the heart of the explosion, Tang Chuan wasn't nearly so lucky.
When Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus detonated, he was right at its center, with nowhere to hide.
The raging flames swallowed him whole. His golden Tailed Beast Transformation cloak lasted less than two breaths before shattering!
Tang Chuan flew backward like a rag doll, collapsing the wall behind him, which was already close to melting.
Half his body was a bloody mess, flesh torn open to expose white bone.
"Cough... pfft..."
Tang Chuan lay on the ground, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
If his Tailed Beast Transformation cloak hadn't absorbed most of the blast, that strike would have killed him!
With difficulty, Tang Chuan raised his head toward the sky.
A figure slowly descended through the flames overhead.
A pair of multicolored Emperor Flame wings beat behind him, making him look like a flame emperor descending to earth!
Xiao Yan!
And in Xiao Yan's hand was a struggling girl.
A scrap of cloth was stuffed tightly in her mouth, leaving her able to make only muffled sounds.
Her hands were bound behind her back, and tears streamed from her terror-filled Phoenix Eyes.
Tang Ya!
"Sis..."
At the sight, a beastlike roar tore from Tang Chuan's throat.
He struggled to rise, but pain racked his entire body so fiercely that he couldn't even get out a full sentence.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Xiao Yan landed leisurely before Tang Chuan and tossed Tang Ya to the ground like garbage.
He looked down at Tang Chuan's mangled body, a mocking sneer curling his lips.
"Tang Chuan, Tang Chuan. Looks like you weren't careful enough. You left yourself an opening!"
"Back in Star Dou Forest, didn't you say you'd make me feel despair?"
"Today, I'll return the favor!"
A vicious glint flashed through Xiao Yan's eyes as he spoke.
He stepped forward, violent Soul Power gathering around his elbow, then drove it down hard at Tang Ya, who lay helpless on the ground.
"Eight Extremes Collapse!"
Bang!
Tang Ya's body jerked upward, and blood stained the cloth in her mouth red.
The hidden force of Eight Extremes Collapse passed through her body, shattering her organs in an instant.
"Aaaaaah..."
Tang Chuan's eyes turned bloodred. He struggled desperately to get to his feet.
He stared at Tang Ya as her body went limp, his blood seeming to catch fire.
Boundless fury erupted in his chest like a volcano!
She was his only family, the woman he had sworn to protect with his life!
And now Xiao Yan had killed her right in front of him!
The three Tomoe in Tang Chuan's eyes began spinning wildly, faster and faster!
Then their shapes abruptly changed.
They were no longer Tomoe, but an intricate pattern unlike anything seen before.
The Mangekyō Sharingan!
At that moment, Tang Chuan's Mangekyō Sharingan Martial Soul awakened!
Yet the instant after it awakened, Tang Chuan slowly closed his left eye.
When he opened it again, the Mangekyō Sharingan had become a lifeless gray-white.
Xiao Yan's expression changed sharply when he saw it.
He instinctively tried to turn around.
But it was too late.
Behind him, a familiar voice sounded, slow and chilling as a demon rising from the depths of hell.
"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!"
Shhk, shhk, shhk...
Countless sharp wooden spikes burst from the ground.
They grew several meters long, their points as keen as spears.
Before Xiao Yan could react, countless spikes drove through his body.
Like a rack of spears from hell, they pinned him firmly in place!
Blood ran down the spikes in little streams.
Behind Xiao Yan, Tang Chuan slowly lowered his hands from their Hand Seals.
Not a single wound remained on his body. He looked completely unharmed.
Only his left eye, now utterly devoid of light, proved that what had just happened was no illusion.
A cold, mocking smile crossed Tang Chuan's face as he walked toward Xiao Yan.
"You wanted to use Tang Ya to humiliate me? To make me feel despair?"
"Too bad. The moment you brought Tang Ya onto the battlefield, you'd already lost!"
"Because this was the trap I set for all of you!"
Tang Ya was Tang Chuan's only family, the person he cared about most in this world.
That truly was his weakness.
But that so-called weakness was also the key to awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan!
To awaken it, Tang Chuan needed to witness the death of the person closest to him.
Only the most intense emotional shock could drive the Sharingan to evolve!
So Tang Chuan had planned for Tang Ya's death from the very beginning.
Anyone who tried to use her death against him would merely step into the trap he had prepared.
What Tang Chuan hadn't expected was for Xiao Yan to strike now, armed with a killing move like Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus.
One Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus had nearly blown him to pieces for real!
That had forced him to use his final trump card early.
Izanagi!
The Sharingan's ultimate forbidden technique. At the cost of permanently blinding one eye, it rewrote every injury he had suffered as though it had never happened!
And so Tang Chuan, left mangled and barely alive by Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus, had been "rewritten."
The Tang Chuan standing here now was unscathed and at the height of his power.
The price was the Sharingan that would never see again!
But Tang Chuan didn't care.
"Once I kill you, the Dou Techniques and alchemy of the Dou Qi Continent, along with the Heavenly Flames you carry, will all be mine!"
Tang Chuan reached out and lightly patted Xiao Yan's face, twisted with pain, as he spoke with a cold smile.
"That haul should just about make up for the loss of my eye!"
"Oh, right. I'll take good care of your dear Dong'er, too!"
"Hahahaha..."
Tang Chuan threw back his head and laughed, his voice ringing with crazed delight.
But at the height of his triumph, Tang Chuan suddenly noticed a change in Xiao Yan's expression as he hung pinned to the spikes.
It wasn't pain. It wasn't despair. It wasn't fear.
It was... wild joy!
There was even a hint of mockery!
Blood still spilled from Xiao Yan's mouth, but he was smiling.
"Hahahaha..."
"Tang Chuan, you think you've won?"
"You took a Blackwater Pill earlier, didn't you?"
Tang Chuan froze.
The Blackwater Pill?
The one Huo Yuhao had given him?
Wait!
Tang Chuan's expression changed sharply!
But before he could react, a colorless, transparent flame suddenly rose from Xiao Yan's right palm.
"Fallen Heart Flame, explode!"
Before you continue