Within the Heavenly Tomb space, Xiao Yan slowly exhaled a turbid breath; enduring a blow from Gu Yuan was a difficult challenge for him at present.
Just one strike left him severely injured.
"Cousin Xiao Yan!" A cheerful voice came from afar.
"Xiao Qing?" Xiao Yan's expression grew tense, "Why are you here?"
He had given some people from his clan the right to enter the Heavenly Tomb, but it was meant for them to escape in critical moments, because no one else could stay in the Heavenly Tomb for too long, otherwise the Heavenly Tomb's repulsion towards them would grow stronger and stronger.
Xiao Qing's appearance here made him think something had gone wrong with the clan.
However, upon seeing Xiao Qing's lighthearted demeanor, he realized it wasn't quite like that, and he said testily:
"Little girl, don't mess around; your time in the Heavenly Tomb space is limited, it's not for you to play around."
Although Xiao Qing had grown from the little child who used to play with mud into a graceful beauty, in Xiao Yan's eyes, she was still that little girl.
"Cousin, I'm not here to play; to get to the point, the clan has moved against the Lei Clan and Yan Clan, and they need you to go help," Xiao Qing said directly and clearly, dodging Xiao Yan's large hand that reached out to ruffle her head.
"So sudden?" Xiao Yan was a bit surprised.
Xiao Qing said with a giggle, "Thanks to you, Cousin; you lured Gu Yuan away, which allowed us to confidently act against the alliance.
"The First Elder, Second Elder, and Third Elder have already led a portion of our forces to the Lei Clan, while Sister Xiao Yu is leading us against the Yan Clan, but our combat power here isn't enough, so we need your assistance, Cousin Xiao Yan!"
"Oh, and the Yan Clan possesses five strange flames: Eight Desolation Destruction Flame, Nine Nether Golden Ancestral Fire, Red Lotus Karma Fire, Fire Cloud Water Flame, and Volcanic Rock Flame.
If you refine these five flames, Cousin, you might be able to advance to Nine-Star Dou Saint."
Xiao Yan's eyes flickered, revealing a hint of temptation.
Although it was extremely difficult to advance from late Eight-Star Dou Saint to Nine-Star Dou Saint, refining so many strange flames at once seemed not impossible!
Moreover, among them were strange flames ranked sixth, seventh, and eighth on the strange flame list.
And besides slightly improving his cultivation, this could also allow the "Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus" to unleash even greater power.
His current Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus already possessed power comparable to a high-grade Heaven-rank Dou Technique; if he added five more strange flames, who knew how much its destructive power could increase, perhaps even surpassing Heaven-rank Dou Techniques!
"Cousin Xiao Yan, answer me! The situation is urgent; the First Elder and the others can't hold out much longer.
After we take down the Yan Clan, we still have to go fight the Lei Clan!" Xiao Qing urged.
"Good! Lead the way!" Xiao Yan made a decisive choice.
When he and Xiao Qing arrived at the battlefield, they found that the Xiao Clan's situation was not optimistic.
Although Xiao Yu had also reached Eight-Star Dou Saint, with late Seven Star Dou Saint Xiao Ning and Xiao Mei assisting her, she was still being beaten by Yan Jin, scrambling for cover.
If not for the starlight-forged portals that automatically appeared when they encountered attacks during their retreat, they would have already been defeated.
"How pathetic," Xiao Yan said with a slight smile, flashing in front of Xiao Yu and effortlessly blocking a stream of flame with his right hand.
"Tsk, stop showing off.
If you hadn't suddenly lured Gu Yuan away, we wouldn't have been so rushed.
This Old freak is yours; don't tell me you can't beat him," Xiao Yu said testily.
Xiao Yan nodded slightly, "Leave him to me."
He looked at Yan Jin, his gaze intertwining with the latter's in the air, and said:
"Still well, Clan Leader Yan Jin.
Back in the Demon Flame Space, you seemed to be the one who attacked me the most, didn't you?"
Yan Jin looked at Xiao Yan, a trace of apprehension flashing in his eyes; this was a formidable enemy that required his full effort to deal with.
"I never thought your Xiao Clan would side with the Soul Clan.
I wonder if your ancestors would be so furious they'd crawl out of their graves if they saw this," Yan Jin said coldly.
Xiao Yan's gaze sharpened a bit: "This was the ancestor's decision.
How we act is not for you to judge."
Yan Jin stopped with the idle talk; the disadvantage was on their side now.
Although not many people from the Xiao Clan had come, each one was a skilled fighter, and there were even a few high-star Dou Saint.
Elders Huo Yun, Huo Yao, and Huo Yao might be able to hold back that Eight-Star Dou Saint woman, but there were also four other late Seven Star Dou Saint; if they were allowed to act freely, what awaited the Yan Clan would be a massacre.
Therefore, he had to defeat Xiao Yan as quickly as possible, to the greatest extent possible!
Yan Jin was also extremely puzzled...
The Xiao Clan, which had disappeared for so long, had not only not perished but had also accumulated such a vast combat force.
How did they develop?
He took a deep breath and launched a fierce assault on Xiao Yan.
"Blazing Flame Burning Heaven!"
Xiao Yan was not to be outdone, and he met it with a palm strike of his own: "Fire Tribulation Palm!"
As the two collided, Yan Jin's expression changed.
He felt an irresistible immense force transmit through his arm, accompanied by a high temperature that was difficult for him to endure.
He stumbled back several steps, his gaze fixed on the silver flame in Xiao Yan's hand.
"Is this your fused strange flame? To think it would be so powerful..."
Xiao Yan said nothing, his figure swiftly moving through space, appearing before Yan Jin in an instant.
The latter's pupils contracted; Xiao Yan's spatial teleportation speed was abnormally fast!
He hurriedly raised his hands to counter, and for a moment, he found himself at a disadvantage.
"Is it the characteristic of that silver flame?"
Yan Jin was also an expert in controlling fire and quickly discovered the anomaly.
However, he didn't recognize what kind of flame it was; it didn't seem to be recorded on the strange flame list.
Xiao Yan had not yet used his spirit power.
His cultivation level had been increasing too rapidly recently, making his Dou Qi slightly unstable and not well controlled, so he used this evenly matched opponent to hone himself.
Yan Jin noticed that as time passed, his fighting became increasingly difficult, and realizing Xiao Yan's purpose, a look of anger appeared on his face:
"Damn it, you're too arrogant."
"Arrogant? Not necessarily, right?" Xiao Yan's gaze remained steady.
Although he spoke disparagingly of Yan Jin, in reality, he maintained a twelve-fold vigilance.
After all, this was the Clan Leader of the Yan Clan, an Old freak who had lived for countless years; who knew if he had any trump cards that could turn the tide.
The two continuously exchanged blows, yet they remained evenly matched.
Xiao Yan held a slight advantage, but he didn't gain much benefit.
Xiao Yan finally felt a hint of impatience.
After exchanging a blow, he retreated, formed a hand seal, and then rapidly advanced again.
As he drew near, he suddenly shouted, "Heavenly Demon Roar!"
Although it hadn't reached the high-grade Heaven rank, with the enhancement of his Emperor Realm spirit power, this spirit attack still unleashed extremely terrifying power.
Yan Jin's face suddenly changed, his blood and Qi surging, and the Dou Technique he had prepared couldn't be used.
He could only instinctively retreat.
Xiao Yan pressed on, pursuing relentlessly.
Just then, a halo of light suddenly illuminated on Yan Jin's forehead.
All his flames retracted into his body, and his aura sharply increased.
Xiao Yan could feel that the opponent wasn't stopping using strange flames, but rather completely fusing the strange flames with himself, integrating them into his flesh and Dou Qi.
At this moment, Yan Jin's face was flushed, and the air he exhaled carried a scorching heat, as if he were a man of fire.
"Completely merging strange flames with oneself... As expected of the Yan Clan Leader, he controls strange flames so skillfully."
Xiao Yan took a deep breath, and the flames on his body also retracted, forming only a fiery garment on his skin.
After roughly understanding the principle behind the opponent's move, Xiao Yan, relying on Qing Meng's perfect control over strange flames, directly copied Yan Jin's technique, and even innovated upon it, displaying an even more perfect form.
Yan Jin's expression became exceedingly ugly.
"If this is all you have, then today, the Yan Clan will likely be erased."
Having figured out Yan Jin's methods and having honed his control over his own Dou Qi through their battle, Xiao Yan began to fight with full effort.
An exquisite Fire Lotus slowly formed in his hand.
Feeling the terrifying energy contained within the Fire Lotus, an extreme sense of crisis surged into Yan Jin's heart.
He then glanced at the Yan Clan members who were constantly getting injured or dying under the attacks of Xiao Yu and the others.
His eyes red, he gritted his teeth and shouted:
"Everyone, break through independently; save as many as you can!"
After shouting, he charged towards Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan had heard Xiao Zhan say what kind of crazy actions these ancient clan people would take at the last moment, so he dared not be careless and let out another sharp roar.
The spirit attack impacted Yan Jin's brain, making him dizzy and slowing the trend of his body swelling.
Xiao Yan pushed the Fire Lotus forward, and as Yan Jin regained consciousness, extreme light and heat erupted before his eyes.
An indescribable scorching heat engulfed everything.
Space shattered, the earth trembled, clouds churned, and the entire Yan Realm was almost torn in half.
When the light and heat dissipated, the shattered space slowly recovered, and the tremors gradually subsided, revealing Yan Jin standing in mid-air, his entire body charred black and his aura weak.
His skin was like crumpled and burnt paper, with charred and crimson intertwined into grotesque patterns.
His exposed muscle fibers were like dried jerky, slightly trembling with each breath, oozing pale yellow tissue fluid.
His face was already unrecognizable; his left eyelid had melted and stuck to his lower eyelid, revealing a cloudy eyeball.
His slightly more intact right eye looked at Xiao Yan, a grim smile on his face:
"To think that I, as the Yan Clan Leader, would ultimately die by fire."
There was undisguised resentment in Yan Jin's pupils.
Xiao Yan's gaze was stern, and without hesitation, he pointed a finger again.
The finger-light pierced through Yan Jin's head, ending the life of this giant who had dominated the Dou Qi Continent for thousands of years.
After collecting the Volcanic Rock Flame and Nine Nether Golden Ancestral Fire from Yan Jin, Xiao Yan stopped attacking and merely watched the battle below.
After Yan Jin ordered all clan members to break through on their own to preserve their bloodline, Xiao Yu also ordered to stop those who possessed strange flames.
Xiao Qing blocked Huo Xuan, Xiao Ning blocked Huo Yao, and Xiao Mei blocked Huo Zhi.
Under such powerful enemy interception, despair couldn't help but show in the eyes of Huo Yao, Huo Xuan, and Huo Zhi.