Chapter Ninety-Four: Life and Death! Reversal of the Mystic Art

It must be said that the silver-haired elder’s strength was truly unfathomable. At the very least, he and Luo Hao were separated by several dozen meters.

Especially under the frenzied assault of the Flame Giant, the silver-haired elder was still able to shield him. It was no small feat. Even Elder Qingyang, whose expression had always been calm, could not help but show a flicker of astonishment in his eyes when he looked at the silver-haired elder.

A fiery jet of water shot forth again, but this time, just as it reached three yards in front of Luo Hao, it was blocked by an invisible force. In a daze, Luo Hao seemed to hear a sonorous horn blast by his ear, and it was that blast that severed the water jet.

So close to disaster!

Cold sweat broke out across his back. Fortunately, the silver-haired elder’s strength was extraordinary; even the Earthflame Weak Water could not break through it. Elder Qingyang and the others kept changing position over the lake’s surface. Even as strong as they were, they dared not be certain whether they could endure it if the two extreme forces entered their bodies.

Another deafening boom rang out. Faced with the few people drawing ever closer to the Azure Crystal Lotus, the Earthflame Weak Water finally went completely berserk. The giant, several dozen yards tall and wreathed in black earthflame, immediately stirred up monstrous waves, forcing the three back.

The Flame Giant roared. In its eyes, burning with black fire, two streams of flame surged forth like rampaging black dragons, and the already blazing lake instantly became a terrifying sea of infernal fire.

“Crossing the Two Poles!”

Under the oppression of that domineering earthflame, even Elder Qingyang and the others felt the heat become unbearable. Duan Yixiao’s wide sleeves billowed, and a torrent of spiritual power merged into the white jade bridge beneath his feet, instantly making its radiance dazzling.

Boundless white light burst forth, and beneath that light, the black earthflame was actually being extinguished little by little.

Elder Qingyang of the Heavenly Sea Sect held a jade mirror in his hand, and an unfathomable aura enveloped him so that no method could invade.

“Damn it! That works too?”

When Luo Hao saw the silver-haired elder make his move, he immediately could no longer stay calm. At that moment, the elder was guiding Luo Hao along with one hand while sitting cross-legged with an air of ease and composure. Beneath him floated the wine gourd he always kept at his side.

That wine gourd was clearly no ordinary object. It could actually withstand the searing of the earthflame, and even float atop the Earthflame Weak Water. One must know that weak water was said to bear no feather and to deny passage even to flying birds, though the Earthflame Weak Water was not pure heavenly weak water.

“Brother Dao, what a wondrous chance. If this old man is not mistaken, the gourd beneath you must be a product of the same origin as that Chaos Green Vine Gourd!” At the sight of the wine gourd beneath the silver-haired elder, even Elder Qingyang could not help but lose his composure slightly.

“So they share the same origin!”

Luo Hao and Duan Yixiao both drew in a sharp breath. This was the second time Luo Hao had heard the name Chaos Green Vine Gourd.

It was a peerless weapon of slaughter from the Middle Antiquity era, beneath which many invincible experts of countless races had perished. To be of the same origin as such a divine killing weapon—how could it be anything ordinary?

“Heh heh, a peerless killing weapon from the Middle Antiquity is indeed captivating. Brother Dao has a keen eye, but this is merely this old fellow’s personal wine gourd, only a forged imitation.”

“So that is how it is. It really is an imitation.” After staring at the wine gourd beneath the silver-haired elder for a long while, Elder Qingyang finally withdrew his gaze, and that trace of astonishment in his eyes disappeared as well.

Of the four, three possessed treasures for protection, so even the Earthflame Weak Water could not break through them in a short time. But the Flame Giant, several dozen yards tall, did not know fatigue and kept launching mad attacks.

Among the three, the weakest by far was Duan Yixiao. As the Flame Giant’s assault intensified, the white radiance on the white jade bridge gradually dimmed.

“Not good!”

After taking a direct blow from the Flame Giant, Duan Yixiao suddenly cried out, for a fine crack had appeared on the white jade bridge beneath his feet.

But as a strong expert in the Heavenly Dipper Realm, how could Duan Yixiao possibly abandon the treasure already right before his eyes? And this was no ordinary treasure—it was half a medicinal king!

For an ancient herb to appear in the Celestial Mountain Range was already exceedingly rare, enough to stir bloody slaughter among all sides. Much less a medicinal king, which was even more precious than an ancient herb.

The only reason it had not been widely known was that the news had not yet spread. If it were learned that a medicinal king existed within Star Lake, by then countless forces from the entire northwest would surely rush here.

Among the group, the most comfortable by far was Luo Hao. Protected by the silver-haired elder’s power, he did not need to resist the Earthflame Weak Water at all. Even if the Earthflame Weak Water attacked him, the silver-haired elder would neutralize it.

Another colossal wave swept in, a wave burning with black fire that blocked everything in its path, hoping to stop the three who were relying on treasures. But that was obviously impossible. Even though the white jade bridge was damaged, Duan Yixiao, standing upon it, still desperately drove it forward, charging toward the Azure Crystal Lotus.

“Brother Luo, be careful!”

Suddenly, frantic cries from Yan Longyuan and Sikong Xuan rang out behind Luo Hao. The instant those words reached his ears, a shadow of death completely enveloped his body, as though he had plummeted at once into an icy hell, cold to the bone.

Luo Hao turned abruptly and saw Zuo Qingfeng. In those eyes brimming with boundless killing intent, a ruthless gleam flashed. “Brat, go die! Hahahahaha!”

Boundless spiritual power gathered into a sky-covering palm, smashing fiercely toward Luo Hao’s chest. In the life-or-death moment, Luo Hao disregarded everything, and all the dragon power in his body surged out along his golden palm.

The sound of dragon cries rang out in waves. Bolstered by the violent dragon power, the golden palm met Zuo Qingfeng head-on. The two palms slammed violently together in midair, and a vast stretch of space instantly collapsed.

After the strike, Zuo Qingfeng was forced back several hundred meters, only to be dragged once more into the melee by Yan Longyuan and Sikong Xuan, who had pursued him. Luo Hao, meanwhile, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then his whole body was hurled away like a broken kite.

At such close range, and with the full-force blow of a Heavenly Dipper Realm expert, one could imagine how terrifying the power was. Even the silver-haired elder’s strength could not fully block it. In fact, without the silver-haired elder’s protection, Luo Hao would likely already have been reduced to nothing.

“Young one, beware the Earthflame Weak Water!”

Feeling his guiding force being disrupted, the silver-haired elder had not even finished speaking when he saw Luo Hao’s body fly past before his eyes.

A mighty wave once again rose from the giant of flame several dozen yards ahead. Earthflame blazed furiously as the lakewater, roiling with fiery waves and surging through the air, howled like the giant’s roar. Then, suddenly, a hand formed entirely of Earthflame Weak Water came crashing down, and Luo Hao’s body was instantly swallowed by it.

“Sigh, there’s no saving him.”

Seeing Luo Hao’s figure engulfed by the Earthflame Weak Water, the silver-haired elder could only sigh. Zuo Qingfeng, who was fighting at a distance, also saw Luo Hao being swallowed and laughed madly. “Dead, hah! That damn ant is finally dead!”

“Brother Luo!”

Yan Longyuan and Sikong Xuan, facing Zuo Qingfeng, let out miserable cries. Immediately after, boundless hatred dyed their eyes crimson. “Sikong, kill him!”

Usually serene as an exiled immortal, Yan Longyuan now spoke with a killing tone sharp as iron. At this moment, his killing intent soared to the heavens, as if he had become an unrivaled god of slaughter.

“Kill!”

Lightning flashed violently. The killing intent in Sikong Xuan’s chest surged like raging waves, and with a cry of slaughter, he seemed like an ancient thunder god in fury.

That overwhelming killing intent made Zuo Qingfeng feel as though he had fallen into an icy abyss, and he was instantly jolted awake. The two in front of him had become incomparably terrifying. He even had the illusion that he was not facing human beings, but two dreadful gods of slaughter.

Killing intent swept through the area, and the two figures with bloodshot eyes surrounded Zuo Qingfeng in an instant. A frenzied battle began, each move lethal, each punch a killing blow. Yan Longyuan and Sikong Xuan no longer cared what it cost them; they were fighting Zuo Qingfeng with their lives on the line.

Blooms of blood kept bursting from his body, and Zuo Qingfeng grew afraid. It was the first time he had felt fear from two juniors. Even Huo Tianhe of the Desolate Flame Cult had never given him this kind of terror rising ceaselessly from the depths of his heart.

“Ah!”

“Kill!”

Inside the battle ring, Yan Longyuan and Sikong Xuan, because of Luo Hao’s death, had completely lost all restraint and were fighting Zuo Qingfeng like madmen.

Yet within the Earthflame Weak Water of Star Lake, Luo Hao did not die at once.

The dragon power in his meridians had long been exhausted. At this moment, he was being tormented by two terrifyingly extreme forces.

The earthflame burned madly, like a spreading karmic fire raging through the land, while the Nine Yin power contained in the weak water seemed capable of freezing even the soul. Luo Hao’s body now presented this bizarre state.

A world of ice and fire.

Luo Hao felt as though his body no longer belonged to him, as though it were about to be assimilated by the Earthflame Weak Water. The embryonic spiritual infant in his dantian was also trembling uneasily.

“No, no... I can’t be assimilated. What should I do?”

At this moment, he panicked. He could only let the Nine Yin power and the supreme yang power pour into his meridians.

His body was like a battlefield where iron cavalry clashed and a million soldiers met in brutal combat. The supreme yang power of the earthflame and the Nine Yin power of the weak water kept fighting, and his meridians could no longer endure it, one by one snapping apart.

“Ahhh...”

His cries continued without end. If it were an ordinary person, they would have been reduced to ashes long ago under those two extreme forces. Fortunately, the Dragon Flame born from Luo Hao’s cultivation of the Dual Dragon Overlord Technique was likewise fiercely rigid and supremely yang, and thus could resist the earthflame’s yang force.

“If they cannot coexist, then all of it shall be mine!”

Roaring in fury, he made an incomparably reckless decision. At that moment, he drove the Dual Dragon Overlord Technique within him to its absolute limit, hoping to refine both extreme forces.

The shadowy forms of two divine dragons appeared within Star Lake, releasing successive dragon cries. The Dual Dragon Overlord Technique was truly overbearing; as Luo Hao madly circulated it, even the two extreme forces began to show signs of being refined.

“What is going on?”

Just as Luo Hao felt joy, an abrupt change occurred. As the two extreme forces were continuously refined into his body, the speed at which the Dual Dragon Overlord Technique circulated became faster and faster, even exceeding its limit.

“Ah!”

Luo Hao felt as though his body were about to explode. The phantom dragons behind him also emitted frantic, uneasy roars.

“Stop, stop now!”

His eyes wide and bloodshot, every unbroken meridian in Luo Hao’s body bulged out, blood burning through them, his eyeballs nearly bursting as he desperately tried to stop the runaway Dual Dragon Overlord Technique.

With a crack, the dragon phantoms suddenly shattered. Luo Hao was instantly wracked with heart-rending pain, as though his organs were on fire. Even so, the Dual Dragon Overlord Technique still did not stop, and dragon power continued to emerge ceaselessly.

“The dragons have shattered; the dragon power has backfired!”

In a haze, Luo Hao recalled the phenomenon of dragon power backlash from when he first began cultivating the Dual Dragon Overlord Technique, and it seemed to be the same as his present condition.

Before he could think further, his body began to split apart, as if it might burst at any moment. When the dragon power reached its zero point, Luo Hao finally could not bear it and let out a pained howl.

His eyes were wide, blood streaming from all seven apertures, his body trembling uncontrollably. While he was howling, the Dual Dragon Overlord Technique within him actually began to reverse. The dragon power, which had originally shone with golden light and been rigid and supremely yang, turned black in an instant, as though it were even more terrifying than the abyss of darkness itself.

Great masses of black dragon power poured from all parts of Luo Hao’s body like demonic clouds. Amid the roiling demonic aura, an invisible killing intent slowly emerged, like an ancient beast awakening in slow motion.

“What is that?”

A cry of alarm rang out. Then the silver-haired elder, Duan Yixiao, and Elder Qingyang, who had been blocked by the Flame Giant, saw a mass of black light suddenly erupt beneath the giant’s abdomen. That black radiance seemed even deeper than the pitch-black earthflame.

From within that black light, they felt a faint yet dreadful trace of killing intent, a killing intent so profound it made even their souls tremble.