Yin Fan said, "After we entered the Flame Spirit Realm, Cang Xiao and the others laid an inescapable net outside it..."
However, because of the cultivators and devil cultivators who had come to "watch the show," this net was used against the devil cultivators of the Devil Domain before it could be used against Yin Fan.
Amid the chaos, Fu Hong led the Northern Region's devil cultivators in fishing in troubled waters, trying to slip quietly into the Flame Spirit Realm, but their forces were far too weak.
Yet no one had expected Fu Hong to be carrying Heaven-Shaking Thunder.
"Heaven-Shaking Thunder?" Wu Fei's eyelid twitched. Could Fu Hong have blown the Flame Spirit Realm open with Heaven-Shaking Thunder?
Heaven-Shaking Thunder was extremely complicated to refine, and the process required a cultivator to pour most of their spiritual qi or demonic qi into it. Once successfully refined this way, its power would exceed that cultivator's cultivation by one level.
If the Heaven-Shaking Thunder in Fu Hong's possession had been refined by Yin Fan, it would be equivalent to a late Mahayana cultivator's all-out strike.
Yin Fan's expression was complicated as well. Before entering the Flame Spirit Realm, he had considered Fu Hong's cultivation and left two pieces of Heaven-Shaking Thunder in the Northern Region, each with power comparable to the peak Mahayana realm. If an emergency arose, Fu Hong could use them to hold out for a while.
Who could have known that Fu Hong would actually...
"Fu Hong did intend to blow open the entrance to the Flame Spirit Realm with Heaven-Shaking Thunder, but he threw it in the wrong place amid the chaos..." As Yin Fan spoke, his gaze grew even stranger.
At this, Wu Fei's eyes shifted slightly, and a guess arose in his mind. "He... threw it at that new spacetime rift?"
Yin Fan nodded. "It really was a fluke."
Heaven-Shaking Thunder itself was not powerful enough to blast open a spacetime rift, but this newly formed rift was unstable, and the explosion actually tore an opening in the Flame Spirit Realm.
Even the three mighty Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators were stunned. Seeing this, the others surged toward the entrance like mad. Humans and devils mingled in the crowd, leaving the Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators constrained and unable to act freely, which allowed so many people to enter the Flame Spirit Realm.
Once Yin Fan finished recounting what he had learned from the soul search, the two looked at each other in silence. Neither had imagined that something so momentous had happened outside.
Only after a long while did Wu Fei chuckle softly and say, "The Devil Venerable's subordinates are every bit as extraordinary in their methods as the Devil Venerable himself."
Author's note:
Thank you all so much for your support. I'll keep working hard!
Chapter 21: Rescuing Fu Hong
For Wu Fei and Yin Fan, however, the breach in the Flame Spirit Realm was actually a good thing.
"The Buddha's Son is extraordinary himself." Yin Fan raised an eyebrow and reached out, his mischievous fingers barely touching Wu Fei's chest, exposing the smooth, round brown prayer beads on his wrist. "Who could have imagined that the Buddha Spirit Sect's Buddha's Son would reach peak Mahayana after only a little over two hundred years of cultivation?"
The faint, almost imperceptible touch made Wu Fei pause briefly before he immediately returned to normal. He lowered his eyes for a glance, his gaze settling on Yin Fan's wrist, which looked all the more lustrously white against the prayer beads. "Not as extraordinary as the Devil Venerable."
There was a faint deeper meaning in his tone. Thinking of those days when the protagonist had alternated between two identities to seek him out, he smiled faintly and said, "When we first met, you called me senior brother by day, then tried to ruin my face at night."
At this, Yin Fan's restless fingers suddenly stilled. He, too, remembered what he had done in front of Wu Fei before his identity was exposed. A very faint flush slowly crept over his ears. He coughed lightly and changed the subject. "With such a major incident in the Flame Spirit Realm, we can leave early instead of waiting out the month."
Wu Fei's gaze swept over his ears, but he did not call him out. He nodded slightly. "Indeed. We need to leave as soon as possible."
However, things did not go as they wished.
The two sat on the Blazing Cold Sword and flew toward the Flame Spirit Realm's exit. Before they had gone far, they ran straight into two groups.
One fled swiftly, while the other pursued relentlessly.
Once they saw clearly, both Wu Fei and Yin Fan paused. What a coincidence.
The one fleeing ahead was none other than Fu Hong, whom they had just mentioned. Behind him were a dozen or so righteous cultivators, several wearing Heavenly Sword Sect disciple robes.
When Fu Hong spotted the two on the Blazing Cold Sword, his eyes lit up at the sight of salvation. "My lord, save me!"
The righteous cultivators pursuing Fu Hong were startled by his words. Looking up, they indeed saw two figures, one in black and one in white, on the enormous spiritual sword, and all stopped short.
Fu Hong seized the opportunity to climb onto the Blazing Cold Sword and hid behind Wu Fei and Yin Fan, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Senior Brother Jing..." One Heavenly Sword Sect disciple had barely spoken when another fellow disciple tugged at him and said sharply:
"The sect leader said he's devil spawn! The Heavenly Sword Sect no longer has a Senior Brother Jing!"
The others beside him echoed his words, as though only by joining together to denounce Yin Fan could they conceal the urge to retreat rising within them.
Wu Fei raised his eyes to look at Yin Fan. Seeing that his smile had taken on a hint of mockery, but that he paid little mind to the Heavenly Sword Sect disciples' words, Wu Fei finally relaxed. A trace of killing intent flashed through his lowered eyes.
With a sect leader like Cang Xiao, it was no wonder they had raised a batch of hypocritical disciples.
Hearing them call him "devil spawn" over and over stirred a faint desire to kill.
Most of the dozen or so people pursuing Fu Hong were at the Spirit Transformation Stage, with only one Heavenly Sword Sect elder at the Mahayana Stage. Who knew how Fu Hong had survived their pursuit until now?
Yet the righteous cultivators only dared to glare and shout from where they stood. Not one dared actually attack Yin Fan.
Even Fu Hong was so speechless that he stepped out from behind the two. "Say, weren't you all pretty eager to chase me down just now? Why don't you even dare move anymore?"
And they called themselves righteous cultivators. All they knew was how to gang up on the outnumbered...
Emboldened by his backing, Fu Hong said, "Are you looking down on our lord?!"
A hint of amusement arose in Wu Fei's eyes at this, and he gave Yin Fan a somewhat teasing look.
Yin Fan shot Fu Hong a warning glance, then sent the Blazing Cold Sword flying away, completely ignoring the righteous cultivators below.
Wu Fei, however, looked thoughtful. As the Blazing Cold Sword passed over the righteous cultivators' heads, he swept an indifferent gaze over them. Golden light flashed at his cuff without drawing the attention of Yin Fan or the others.
Wu Fei could guess why Yin Fan had not attacked them. Half of it was that he could not be bothered, and the other half was because of him.