"Dong!"
The crimson furnace gleamed with a metallic luster, radiating an indestructible aura as it rang with metallic clangs.
Most terrifying of all, the furnace shone and spewed blood energy. A figure rose from its mouth and stretched out both arms, seeking to drag He Xian inside.
"Hm?" Several Emperor Clan beings activated the eye techniques they had cultivated, trying to see it clearly.
A towering figure clad in battered armor emerged from the furnace's mouth, exuding an aura that made all living beings tremble. He was truly terrifying, his presence unlike any other. If they had to describe him, then he was an immortal!
A true immortal from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
"Turn the enemy into a corpse, nourish the spirit with that corpse-seal him!" Chi Menghong roared, his body transformed into a furnace. That being immediately reached out to seize He Xian, terrifying beyond measure.
This secret art was indeed frightening enough to make one shudder.
Now they finally understood. After entombing an Immortal King, the Red King Furnace had enslaved him, using his corpse to cultivate itself.
Chi Menghong had only briefly merged with that furnace, yet he had gained this manifestation and this bizarre secret art. One could only imagine how strange and terrifying the true ancient furnace and the Red King must have been.
"Who dares seal me? Who can seal me? No art beneath heaven is invincible!" He Xian said disdainfully, swinging his fists at the arms reaching out of the furnace. He cared nothing for its strangeness or bizarre nature. He firmly believed himself invincible among those of his level.
Buzz!
The crimson furnace shuddered, still trying to draw He Xian inside.
No one had expected their battle to decide victory and defeat, life and death, from the very beginning. It was so fierce, without even the slightest attempt to test each other.
"Break!" He Xian swung his fists.
Endless symbols burned upon his fists, transforming the entire world around him and striking awe into every heart. Punch after punch hammered the furnace and the Immortal King's ruined arms extending from it. His fist intent manifested, surging light flooding the heavens.
Boom! Crack! Bang!
In that terrifying collision, light and shadow crossed as heaven crumbled and earth split. Sand flew, stones hurtled, gods wept, and demons howled. The clash was ferocious, unleashing two surging waves of heat.
"Aah!" In the next instant, Chi Menghong screamed, grievously wounded.
The scarlet furnace was cracked open by the impact.
Even the mysterious figure was killed outright by the shock.
Rumble!
Blood sprayed from that figure, accompanied by a tremendous resonance of the Dao. It was as though a pillar holding up heaven had fallen and the entire blue sky had collapsed, as though an entire age were being buried.
The manifestation was astonishing.
Chi Menghong screamed and howled in pain.
At the same time, the furnace shook and let out a long howl that made everyone's scalp crawl.
Blood gushed out of the furnace, a horrifying sight!
It was as though a living person truly dwelled within.
Thus, the entire furnace gushed like a fountain of blood, its crimson flow bubbling forth, dreadful and painfully dazzling!
"He boy, you've succeeded in enraging me! I'll refine you into a slave within my furnace and toy with you day and night!" Chi Menghong roared, the precious furnace shaking.
The furnace healed, trembling violently and spraying crimson light that surged into the heavens, drowning the battlefield and shrouding the sky.
At that moment, an undying aura spread. Supreme power flowed, and the fallen figure within the furnace's mouth stood once more.
He was indistinct, yet even more terrifying, bearing peerless pressure. With a clang, a weapon appeared in his hand, its sharpness unrivaled!
"This is..."
Everyone present froze, even the Emperor Clan beings losing their composure. They sensed a power beyond all limits, impossible to oppose or withstand.
"How is this possible? He carries only a wisp of the Red King Furnace's aura and can manifest a trace of an Immortal King's past imprint. How could he borrow such combat power?" An Emperor Clan member could not make sense of it, no matter how he thought it over.
If such a thing were possible!
Then the Red King Lineage was far too heaven-defying. With an Immortal King buried inside an Undying King's furnace, could its clansmen simply borrow this power?
The peerless aura spilling forth surpassed the pinnacle of the mortal path.
"Be crushed! Become a slave for all eternity!" Chi Menghong bellowed.
The precious furnace shone, its crimson radiance vast as an ocean. The figure standing within its mouth was incomparably powerful.
Though his form was indistinct, the instant his eyes opened, heaven and earth trembled.
Boom!
At that moment, the hazy figure, seemingly standing within an abyss, extended his right arm and swung the blurred weapon in his hand in a killing strike.
"It's nothing but an empty likeness! Yet you dare act so wildly." He Xian gave a low shout. Standing at the center of the battlefield, he sensed that aura more clearly than anyone else.
If Chi Menghong could truly summon undying power, would he not be invincible? How could he fall at Huang's hands in the future?
This was merely an illusion.
Clang, clang, clang...!
Sparks flew in all directions, and divine might shook the air. He Xian fought back with his fists. With the Indestructible Scripture as his foundation, his body was his finest weapon.
"Aah... burn! Slave of the crimson furnace, crush him to death!" Chi Menghong roared. Blood gushed from the furnace's mouth, pouring over that figure.
Boom!
The figure grew more terrifying still, his aura shaking heaven and earth and making everyone tremble.
"Break!" He Xian shouted. Brilliant golden runes blossomed and burned upon his arm, embodying the very essence of the Indestructible Scripture. It was as though he were swinging a blazing sun.
He struck the Immortal King's phantom head-on.
The blazing sun hung in the sky, and everything ominous melted away like ice and snow.
"An enemy defeated by my hands has no hope of ever turning the tables." He Xian swung his sunlike fist and struck the phantom, shattering it into nothingness.
One punch, then two-the figure was dispersed.
For Chi Menghong, this was catastrophic. He suffered grievous injuries. Even though that was not his body, he was still caught in the damage.
His art and his Dao had merged with that figure, and he suffered a violent backlash.
This time, he had come for revenge, fully prepared. He had even gone to his clan's ancestral land to temper himself, unexpectedly earning the Red King Furnace's favor. After merging with it, he had obtained this heaven-defying ability.
But now, it seemed he was still in mortal peril. He had lost!
Resigned to death, Chi Menghong asked, "How could you be so powerful?!"
He let his body fall to the ground.
"Cough, cough, cough!" He Xian coughed up great mouthfuls of blood.
"Hahaha, I almost forgot you have a Dao injury. I couldn't even conquer a dying man." Chi Menghong lay on the ground, staring at the sky and laughing without restraint as his vitality slowly drained away.
Anyone could see that He Xian was in terrible condition. His blood energy and vital essence were continually dwindling; he had suffered an extremely severe Dao injury.
Clap, clap, clap!
Sudden applause rang out.
"Striking down two Emperor Clan experts in succession-what impressive skill. I admit I underestimated you," Ming Si said darkly as he applauded. While watching from the sidelines, he had nearly been unable to resist attacking, an earth-shaking killing intent rising within him.
It was not just him. Every Emperor Clan being present felt killing intent toward He Xian.
Indeed, with such a heaven-defying figure so weakened, if they did not kill him now, when would they?
Not one of them could strike down two opponents of equal level in succession, especially while gravely injured.
A cold, sinister gleam rose in the eyes of these Emperor Clan beings.
"Cough, cough!" He Xian stopped coughing blood and looked at those fellows who were revealing their intent to kill him.
"Come at me together! I'm in a hurry." He forcibly suppressed his Dao injury and raised his head.