Yuan Qing and Old Ghost Yan Mo spent a long while examining the entire mountain before finally choosing a recess in the rock face, just large enough for one person to rest in, which looked as though a giant hand had forcibly gouged out a section of rock. The two stood side by side in the air, positioned to attack it together, yet they tacitly left several zhang between them. Yuan Qing's three incarnations surrounded him in a perfect defensive formation. The sight made Old Ghost Yan Mo's eyelids twitch beneath his mask, but he could only shoot Yuan Qing a helpless glance. He kept his distance and paid Yuan Qing no further attention.
After repeated examinations, the two found that the restrictions around this recess were the sparsest and weakest, perhaps because that mighty expert often came here to inspect the mountain and rest. They agreed that this was the best place to break through. Yuan Qing glanced at Old Ghost Yan Mo out of the corner of his eye and, seeing that he was not making any suspicious moves, turned his gaze to the cliff. After a moment's hesitation, he acted.
Boom!
At a thought from Yuan Qing, one of his three incarnations shot toward the rock face and slammed heavily into it with a boom. The entire mountain immediately shook violently.
Yuan Qing watched with a smile, thinking that the restriction was nothing much, yet Old Ghost Yan Mo had gone to such lengths to join forces with him just to break it. But in the next instant, Yuan Qing's expression abruptly turned grave.
"The restriction on this mountain reflects attacks at twice their strength!"
The incarnation Yuan Qing had sent out was hurled backward, its body battered and broken. Its once-solid form had also grown faint and insubstantial. Its sorry state drew a sneer from Old Ghost Yan Mo.
"Old Ghost Yan Mo, you're courting death! You clearly knew about this reflecting restriction, so why didn't you tell me? Don't forget, if my incarnations use up too much energy, I can't be sure I'll be able to open this restriction. When that happens, not only will neither of us get the supreme treasure in this mountain, we'll also provoke an extremely powerful expert. For the sake of our old lives, I advise you to stop playing tricks on me, or I'll leave right now! Hmph!" Yuan Qing glanced at his incarnation, whose entire body was beginning to turn indistinct, then turned and roared at Old Ghost Yan Mo, his eyes scarlet.
Old Ghost Yan Mo responded with a cold laugh. "Old man Yuan Qing, you're the one in the wrong here. I was going to warn you when you ordered your incarnation to attack the rock face, but who knew you'd move so quickly? Your incarnation flew out before I could warn you. How can you blame me for that? If you really want to give up this Ice and Fire Vermilion Fruit, I won't force you to stay. Go on, leave. At worst, I'll call my subordinates here and use their lives to get this Ice and Fire Vermilion Fruit. It would be their good fortune, hahahaha." Old Ghost Yan Mo knew Yuan Qing had been stuck at his current realm for many years, so his tone did not soften in the slightest. If anything, he sounded unconcerned.
Yuan Qing's face flushed red with anger at those words, his eyelids twitching wildly and his old eyes bulging as wide as bronze bells. In the end, though, he said nothing more. There was no use saying more, especially when the other man had him completely suppressed and he no longer had the same deterrent power as before. It seemed he could only cooperate with him for the time being and break through this reflecting restriction first. Once the restriction was broken, heh heh heh... he would leave it to fate.
"Hmph! You'd better tell me anything else you know as soon as possible. If we're both on guard against each other, how can we obtain the supreme treasure of heaven and earth in this mountain? So I hope you won't hide anything else from me, or I'll leave at once. At worst, I'll just give up an Ice and Fire Vermilion Fruit," Yuan Qing said to Old Ghost Yan Mo, feigning fury as he calculated what to do afterward.
How could Old Ghost Yan Mo fail to see through him? He merely gave a few words of agreement and began working with him to break the restriction on the mountain.
Xiao Yan watched the two below argue and make a fuss for a long while, all the while wondering how he might get a chance to investigate the mountain that felt somewhat familiar to him. Now that the two had finally reached an agreement, he watched them slowly approach the massive mountain. Their attention was entirely focused on the rock face. Seeing that this was an excellent opportunity to investigate, Xiao Yan carefully spread out his soul power, forming it into fine threads that slowly approached the rock face above Yuan Qing and the other man. Sure enough, his powerful soul power revealed a thin, invisible screen of light enveloping the entire mountain without a single gap.
Yet when Xiao Yan's soul power touched the thin screen of energy, he discovered that it contained an extremely violent force, scorching hot yet mixed with an icy coldness. This was a kind of energy Xiao Yan knew better than any other. In all of heaven and earth, such violent energy belonged to only one kind of spiritual entity:
Heavenly Flames!
"This... this is the power of a Heavenly Flame, but how could it be? How could a Heavenly Flame possess such powerful, violent strength? Could it be that the Heavenly Flame here has existed for a thousand years, or even longer?"
Sensing the familiar presence coming from the screen of energy, Xiao Yan was utterly shocked. No wonder. No wonder there was a presence here that felt familiar to both Huo Yi and me. It came from this Dou Qi screen. Judging by the powerful presence emanating from it, the Heavenly Flame here definitely possesses its own intelligence. But if that's the case, why did it seal itself here?
Upon closer observation, Xiao Yan discovered that the restriction was clearly meant to seal something, and the presence of the seal came from a Heavenly Flame. Evidently, the Heavenly Flame here had sealed itself away.
If a Heavenly Flame were enraged, it would never seal away the object of its anger and give it a chance to escape. Instead, it would use the most direct and vicious means to blast it into nothingness. Yet Xiao Yan's soul power could clearly sense that the presence of this restrictive screen belonged to a Heavenly Flame. That meant that within this mountain, a Heavenly Flame spirit that had taken human form had sealed itself here for some unknown reason.
"Looks like the Heavenly Flame these two found is no ordinary one! Maybe it's a Heavenly Flame that underwent some kind of mutation. Tsk, tsk. Such a powerful supreme treasure of heaven and earth, yet it's stuck here under seal. Just thinking about it makes one feel what a reckless waste of heaven's gifts it is! From the looks of it, of these two, only that Hun Clan member who calls himself something from the Ghost Fiend Gate knows exactly what's inside the mountain. In that case, heh heh heh heh..."
At the end of this thought, Xiao Yan let out a mischievous chuckle and was almost discovered by Yuan Qing and the other man. Fortunately, nothing happened in the end. Otherwise, he would have been in danger.
Once Xiao Yan had calmed his mind, he attached a wisp of soul power to the restriction, then closed his eyes and quietly waited for news from the two below.
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