Chapter 695 693: Destruction Before Rebirth

Boundless flames and endless starlight erupted at once, intertwining into a terrifying storm of power.

Perhaps because the Three Thousand Burning Flame itself was a fire of the stars, the current azure flame within Liu Xi's control harmonized perfectly with the light of the heavens.

Fire and starlight merged, weaving together into an awe-inspiring tide of destruction that crashed against the raging energy waves before them.

Boom!

The impact tore through the air. Shockwaves rippled outward, space itself shattered, and cracks like spiderwebs spread through the void. The entire sky seemed on the verge of collapsing.

The Flame Heavenly Demon Emperor was slightly surprised. These two… they were not ordinary Immortal Grade Heavenly Sovereigns. No wonder their power had disrupted his invasion plan.

"Regardless of how strong you are—today, you die here!"

The black flames surrounding his massive body blazed even fiercer. Then, in a blur of motion, his towering demonic form—tens of thousands of feet tall—stepped through the shattered void, crossing space as though it were nothing.

At this level of existence, even space storms could no longer harm him.

The Flame Heavenly Demon Emperor's figure flickered like lightning. In the next instant, he was directly in front of Qin Tian. A black-flame greatsword materialized in his grasp and came crashing down in a diagonal arc.

Qin Tian's eyes widened—speed, strength, and aura, all terrifying beyond measure. It was as if he stood alone before the endless ocean, feeling both its vastness and his own insignificance.

And this was while the Demon Emperor was still being suppressed by the Great Thousand World!

The scene dredged up the memory of that dreadful night—when the Fiend Clan's armies had surged from all directions, when his comrades had fallen one after another in pools of blood…

"Ahhh!"

Qin Tian roared, madness overtaking his eyes. The golden wheel in his hands spun faster and faster until it became a shield of light that met the descending blade head-on.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang through heaven and earth. Ripples of energy spread outward, twisting the very fabric of the void.

Under the full might of his Heavenly Wheel Demon Slayer Body, Qin Tian barely blocked the strike—but the golden wheel trembled violently, nearly shattering. His Celestial Body, too, cracked apart.

Within it, Qin Tian's face flushed crimson. His aura plummeted, and blood sprayed from his mouth.

"One more strike… and you're finished."

The Flame Heavenly Demon Emperor sneered as he raised his massive sword again, ready to cleave Qin Tian in half.

"Get lost!"

Liu Xi finally moved. After his brief moment of shock, he would never again allow the Demon Emperor to act unchecked. A blazing azure spear pierced through the sky, thrusting straight for the fiend.

The Flame Heavenly Demon Emperor caught the glint of the spear from the corner of his eye. At its tip danced an azure flame that made even his immortal soul quiver with danger.

'A mere Immortal Grade being can make this Emperor feel fear? Impossible… What flame is this?'

In a heartbeat, he changed tactics. His blade twisted midair, meeting Liu Xi's spear head-on instead.

Interest flickered within the Demon Emperor's crimson eyes. Perhaps, this human's strange flame could help him transcend his current realm.

Blade and spear collided.

Liu Xi was undeniably stronger than Qin Tian. Though he was forced back again and again, he managed to parry every strike from the Heavenly Demon Emperor.

Qin Tian seized the opportunity to retreat from the battlefield, suppressing his wounds as torrents of Spiritual Energy surged to mend the cracks in his Celestial Body.

He looked up in astonishment—Liu Xi's Azure Lotus Celestial Body was moving at a speed and strength nearly equal to the suppressed Flame Heavenly Demon Emperor himself.

That body wasn't on the Celestial Body Ranking, yet its might rivaled even the top ten.

Everyone had their secrets, and Qin Tian had no intention of prying into Liu Xi's.

Meanwhile, Liu Xi himself was fully immersed in the battle. Each strike from the Demon Emperor's blade came heavier than the last—relentless like waves crashing upon the shore, every blow capable of splitting mountains and seas.

An ordinary Immortal Grade Heavenly Sovereign would have been slain in one strike.

Only Liu Xi, whose body had been reforged by Chaotic Spiritual Energy, could resist this onslaught. The Azure Lotus Celestial Body had grown tougher, faster, and stronger beyond imagination.

Yet even so, danger lingered. Each slash carried searing black flames—similar to the Infernal Demon Flame, but magnitudes more potent.

For the first time in ages, Liu Xi felt true heat biting into his soul—flames his azure fire struggled to refine, flames that continuously eroded his Celestial Body.

It was torment beyond words. If this continued, he knew the outcome—he would die.

He hadn't felt the scent of death in so long. But now, it was here again, close enough to taste.

Instinct roared within him—survive!

Drawing upon every ounce of Spiritual Energy within, Liu Xi channeled it into the Chaotic Stone in his Sovereign Sea. The energy emerged transformed—pure, primordial Chaotic Spiritual Energy—and poured into the cracks of his Azure Lotus Celestial Body.

That was the true reason he could keep fighting: the endless cycle of destruction and restoration.

But what even Liu Xi didn't notice was this—each time the Infernal Flame burned his body and the Chaotic Spiritual Energy repaired it, the two forces began to fuse more deeply.

Destruction became tempering. Ruin became rebirth.

He had long theorized that if his Celestial Body could be entirely filled and reforged with Chaotic Spiritual Energy, it would undergo a profound evolution.

Now, that process had begun. The Infernal Flame's relentless assault was forcing the transformation to accelerate—the more he fought, the faster the refinement, the stronger his foundation grew.

Once the Azure Lotus Celestial Body survived this cycle of ruin, it would break and then be reborn!

Yet Liu Xi, focused solely on driving back the Demon Emperor, had not realized how much he was changing.

The Flame Heavenly Demon Emperor, however, was seething. He—one of the Fiend Clan's supreme rulers, a being equivalent to a Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereign—had been held back for this long by a mere Immortal Grade cultivator!

It was humiliating. Unthinkable.

"Demon Flame—Annihilate the Heavens!"

The Demon Emperor had finally lost his patience. He poured his wrath into the black flames coiling around his greatsword. A monstrous fiery visage emerged upon the blade's edge, its mouth open in a silent scream of hatred.

That face seemed ready to devour the sky, to erase all living things.

The blade swung down. The burning apparition rushed forward, engulfed in the power to incinerate the world itself.

Liu Xi's pupils contracted. For the first time, he felt a truly fatal threat—heat, darkness, tyranny, corruption—all mingled within this strike.

"Azure Lotus True Form!"

There was no retreat. He could only stand and endure.

Endless azure flames burst forth, forming a colossal lotus that wrapped tightly around his Celestial Body.

The demonic flame crashed into it. The fiery specter devoured the lotus whole.

The lotus held—barely—shielding Liu Xi from immediate annihilation. But the black flames still tore and burned at his body, forcing another round of tempering, another step toward transformation.

No one yet realized it, but through this agony, Liu Xi's rebirth had begun.

…

And far away—

Maha Tian was still racing toward the battlefield at full speed.

(End of Chapter)

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