Chapter 267: The Secret Art of Controlling Fire Beasts

“Hu… hu… hu…”

At the edge of the lava lake, Ye Yan and Xiao Fan stood facing each other.

Both were utterly exhausted, their spiritual energy depleted, and their bodies covered in wounds.

Yet, fierce anger burned in their eyes.

If possible, they would tear each other to pieces.

Flay the skin! Devour the flesh!

“Hand over the treasure here, and I’ll spare your life,” Ye Yan said, his expression icily cold.

Xiao Fan sneered. “I was about to ask you the same. When I arrived, this place was empty. Now, you appear and claim there’s treasure. Did you take it first and set a trap for me?”

Ye Yan’s gaze turned even colder.

He had accidentally discovered a defensive formation near Furnace No. 13.

After delving underground, he stumbled upon this scene.

There must be treasure here.

But judging by Xiao Fan’s expression, it seemed he hadn’t obtained it either.

So who could have taken the treasure?

What infuriated Ye Yan further was that Xiao Fan’s hidden cards were no less than his own.

Moreover, Xiao Fan carried the soul of a powerful entity, at least a former Nascent Soul cultivator.

If he could kill Xiao Fan, perhaps he could seize the treasures on him.

However, neither of them could kill the other right now.

And neither was willing to leave first and expose their back to the other.

Thus, the standoff persisted.

At that moment, subtle changes began to occur in the lava lake.

The once steadily bubbling lava suddenly became violently agitated, almost unnaturally so.

It felt as if an invisible giant hand was stirring the underground flames, brewing a terrifying surge.

In Xiao Fan’s mind, the voice of Danhe suddenly sounded.

“The lava lake is behaving strangely. It might erupt at any moment. Stop wasting time with him and leave immediately.”

Xiao Fan was stunned. “But I haven’t obtained anything yet!”

Danhe replied sternly, “If the underground flames erupt, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would be severely injured. I can’t protect you!”

“Better to live and fight another day! Even if the Nine Turns Alchemy Canon is truly lost, I can find other opportunities for you!”

Xiao Fan took a deep breath. “Fine, let’s go!”

Without hesitation, he stomped the ground and spun toward the staircase leading to the surface.

Ye Yan, with his sharp perception, also noticed the anomaly in the lava lake.

Seeing Xiao Fan decisively turn to leave only heightened his sense of unease.

Without delay, he followed suit.

The two had just reached the staircase when a deep, muffled explosion echoed from the depths of the lava lake.

The surroundings of Furnace No. 13 shook violently at that moment.

Both men’s faces changed. Using every ounce of their strength, they unleashed their body techniques and martial skills, racing upward with all their might.

Xiao Fan glanced back in passing.

As expected, the underground flames were surging toward them!

The path behind had been entirely consumed by fire.

A chill ran down his spine.

Had Danhe not warned him in time, he would have been engulfed by the flames by now.

At this point, both men knew there was no room for further conflict.

Escape was their only option.

Five hundred feet… four hundred feet… three hundred feet…

They drew closer and closer to the surface.

Just as they broke through to the ground—

Ye Yan, without hesitation, struck back.

His reverse-gripped right hand, prepared long in advance, lashed out with a fiery whip.

Crack!

The whip snapped toward Xiao Fan, blocking his path.

Xiao Fan, anticipating the attack, conjured a starlight shield before him, deflecting the strike.

Even so, his movement slowed briefly.

His right leg was scorched by the underground flames.

He screamed in agony.

Fortunately, Danhe quickly intervened, enhancing his speed. Only then did Xiao Fan manage to escape to the surface.

“Fight while retreating; we can’t kill him, and he can’t kill you either,” Danhe said seriously.

Ye Yan and Xiao Fan glared coldly at each other as they slowly backed away.

Only when the distance between them exceeded three hundred feet did both heave a sigh of relief.

Then, after giving each other a final deep look, they dashed in opposite directions, widening the gap between them.

Shortly after they left, Shen Mo emerged from his hiding spot.

The scene of the two fighting earlier had been entirely visible to him.

“Quite an entertaining fight,” Shen Mo remarked, though he didn’t actually feel like laughing.

Yet, when he thought of how they had fought tooth and nail, only to end up empty-handed, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

How amusing.

“The lava lake had a minor eruption; the impact wasn’t significant,” he mused.

“But since it’s starting here, other places should begin as well.”

“In the end, this will lead to an unprecedented eruption of underground flames.”

Shen Mo refocused his thoughts, a contemplative expression on his face.

Back when he saw Liu Ruyun, he had already realized that she was the traitor responsible for triggering the eruption of underground flames.

However, exposing Liu Ruyun on the spot wouldn’t have maximized his interests.

And without concrete evidence, accusing her would only alert her and make himself a target.

“But this eruption seems to have occurred earlier than in the predetermined fate. It appears that the trajectory of fate has shifted.”

Shen Mo pondered for a moment before glancing at his life panel.

[Upcoming Turn of Events: Ten days later, Liu Ruyun will tame three Fire Flood Dragons located three hundred miles northeast of the safehouse. She will eventually lead a large number of fire beasts to attack the safehouse. Many elders will perish.

Shen Mo, under the cover of Lü Dongxuan, escapes the safehouse and encounters the Third Elder, who fights through a horde of fire beasts to protect him. Under the Third Elder’s shelter, he survives.]

Shen Mo nodded thoughtfully.

So that’s how it is.

Fate had indeed undergone a minor adjustment.

Perhaps Liu Ruyun believed that the eruption of underground flames alone wasn’t enough to kill all the cultivators in the Fire Pill Palace.

Or maybe one of the underground flame nodes hadn’t erupted yet.

Many factors could have played a role.

Under these circumstances, Liu Ruyun used some method to control the fire beasts for her purposes.

Most of the fire beasts were driven to surround the Third Elder and the Seventh Elder.

Although the strongest of the fire beasts was only at the peak of the fifth rank—equivalent to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage—

It is said that “even ants can bite an elephant to death.”

The sheer number of fire beasts was enough to give these two Nascent Soul cultivators a massive headache, forcing them to respond with great caution.

Meanwhile, the rest of the fire beasts, led by Liu Ruyun, directly attacked the safehouse, wiping out all the elders in one fell swoop.

This ensured no survivors.

Shen Mo clicked his tongue in amazement.

Liu Ruyun was truly ruthless and decisive in her actions.

“What method is she using to control the fire beasts? Could it be the Fire Beast Powder?”

“Or perhaps a counterfeit version created by the State Governor’s Office?” Shen Mo speculated.

When the Nine Turns Alchemy Sect controlled the Fire Pill Palace, there were also fire beasts here.

However, the fire beasts were utterly submissive to the cultivators of the Nine Turns Alchemy Sect.

This was due to the existence of the Fire Beast Powder.

The Nine Turns Alchemy Sect had raised the fire beasts from a young age with special pills, fundamentally altering their physiques.

Even a trace of Fire Beast Powder could make a fire beast submit to the will of even a low-level Body Refinement cultivator, rendering it helpless.

However, after the fall of the Nine Turns Alchemy Sect, its remnants, to prevent the Jade Cauldron Sect from fully seizing control of the Fire Pill Palace, destroyed the recipe for the Fire Beast Powder and burned much of its stored supply.

The Jade Cauldron Sect lacked the ability to replicate such a substance.

But the State Governor’s Office had always been strong in the field of beast control.

It was highly possible that they had created a similar imitation of Fire Beast Powder.

Given that Liu Ruyun had infiltrated the Jade Cauldron Sect for so long, it made sense for her to have obtained such a thing.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Madara Web Novel