Chapter 377 - 367: Fiery Flame Will

Chapter 377: Chapter 367: Fiery Flame Will

Di Heng watched with a venomous gaze as the passage Yi Xiaoyao had entered sealed shut. With a cold snort, he entered a passage of his own.

Yi Lu glanced over at the standoff between Yi Xiaoyao and Di Heng, her eyes flickering. She felt a wave of relief. ’I was worried his talent in the Alchemy Dao might keep me from taking first place, but it looks like that’s not a concern anymore.’

Soon, all the participants had entered their respective passages.

Below, countless people stared with longing at the palace behind the crimson giant gate. It held the Alchemy Dao inheritance of the Red Butterfly Saint Witch, an immense temptation for all of them.

However, these people either lacked the necessary ability or the status to qualify. They could only wait quietly and see who would ultimately claim first place.

At the same time, dozens of figures rose into the air. These were all major figures in the Alchemy Dao, and they positioned themselves atop the crimson giant gate. Since the Alchemy Dao Arena below was open-roofed, save for the palace, they had a clear view of every participant’s situation.

The eighty-one people who had entered the passages of the Alchemy Dao Arena now each faced a terrifying blaze. Before the flames lay a Pill Formula and a set of Elixir Materials. Only by successfully concocting the elixir and placing it into a mechanism would the flames subside.

This was the first trial of Alchemy Mastery, and naturally, it posed no challenge to the talented alchemists who had made it this far.

Soon, all the flames of the first trial were extinguished. A map appeared on the ground at each participant’s feet. It wasn’t a complete map of the Alchemy Dao Arena, but rather one that showed only nine "living paths" and points of light indicating each person’s current location.

Yi Xiaoyao raised an eyebrow, looking down at the map at his feet.

’My luck is pretty good. I’m very close to one of the living paths.’

With that, he headed toward the living path.

Of course, some people had started on one of the nine living paths, but that wasn’t necessarily a stroke of good luck. Everyone else on the "dead paths" was now converging on these nine routes, meaning those already on them would become everyone’s primary target.

Soon, Yi Xiaoyao encountered the second trial: a battle against a Pill Soul.

Looking at the fierce tiger Pill Soul before him, the corners of Yi Xiaoyao’s mouth curved up slightly. He raised a hand, drawing the materials on the ground into his palm, and began his Alchemy.

An incense stick’s worth of time later, two roaring tigers burst forth from Yi Xiaoyao’s palm, directly shredding the trial’s Pill Soul. He had passed again.

"A Double Pill Soul!"

"Who is this kid in black? He can’t be more than twenty, yet he can create a Double Pill Soul?"

"This boy’s talent in the Alchemy Dao... Even Yi Lu, the top genius of the Holy Pill Academy, seems a step below him."

The bigwigs on the crimson gate were all utterly astonished when they saw Yi Xiaoyao create the Double Pill Soul. Although a few others had also managed the feat, their achievements paled in comparison given Yi Xiaoyao’s age.

After all, Yi Xiaoyao was only nineteen years old, while the others were all in their twenties or thirties. There was simply no comparison.

As a result, Yi Xiaoyao’s every move now drew the attention of the bigwigs.

"Wait! The kid has reached an intersection, and at his intersection is..."

The expressions of several bigwigs changed, and they all looked over in unison.

They saw Yi Xiaoyao easily pass the third trial. The passage ahead split into three paths, but a trial blocked the entrance to each one.

’An intersection with another path?’ Yi Xiaoyao thought, raising an eyebrow.

Just as Yi Xiaoyao was preparing to use Alchemy to clear the trial blocking one of the paths, the trial on an adjacent path suddenly cleared, and a figure emerged.

"An intersection?" The figure hesitated for a moment, then immediately spotted Yi Xiaoyao standing before him.

Hearing the voice, Yi Xiaoyao turned his head with a strange look on his face.

Their eyes met, and a smile touched both of their lips.

"What good luck."

A venomous, cold light flared in the man’s eyes, and a chilling voice squeezed through his clenched teeth. "I was worried someone else might kill you, but to think I’d run into you at the very first intersection. Even the heavens are giving me a chance for revenge!"

Yi Xiaoyao gave a soft, cold laugh, his hand already gripping the hilt of the longsword on his back. This man was none other than Di Heng.

"I think you’ve misunderstood the heavens’ intent."

Before Yi Xiaoyao had even finished speaking, Di Heng’s figure shot toward him like an Illusion.

"Die!!"

With a furious roar, a tyrannical Fist Aura tore through the air, forming a terrifying Flame Fist. It moved with incredible speed, its wild and fearsome Intent burning and distorting the very air in its path.

When the bigwigs on the crimson gate saw that Yi Xiaoyao had run into Di Heng so early on, they all shook their heads.

"I’d forgotten. That kid has a feud with the Di Family."

"His talent may be astonishing, but I’m afraid he’s going to fall here. What a pity."

They only felt it was a pity because they hated to see talent go to waste. As for whether Yi Xiaoyao lived or died, they didn’t much care.

Therefore, they were about to turn their attention elsewhere. But in the next moment, their gazes froze.

BOOM!

Di Heng’s terrifying Flame Fist suddenly exploded. A cyan Sword Aura had intercepted and obliterated it. Not only that, but the residual power of the Cyan Sword Aura continued hurtling toward Di Heng.

The sword in Yi Xiaoyao’s hand glinted coldly. All four of his Nascent Souls had now reached the Void-Entering Second Realm. Meanwhile, Di Heng’s Cultivation was suppressed to the Void-Entering Fourth Realm. Despite the two-realm gap, Yi Xiaoyao could still handle him with ease.

A fiery red palm crushed the remnant of the incoming Sword Aura, and a look of astonishment crossed Di Heng’s face.

"No wonder you’re so confident. Your actual strength doesn’t match your Cultivation at all."

Although Di Heng was astonished, his expression held not a trace of worry. Instead, his cold sneer only deepened.

"An ordinary cultivator at the Void-Entering Fourth Realm would truly fall at your hands. But you had the misfortune of running into me!"

Upon hearing this, Yi Xiaoyao’s gaze sharpened. He looked up to see a terrifying Flame Palm Seal slamming down on him. A powerful sense of dread welled up within him, but he slashed out with his sword once more.

"Cyan Wood Life-cutting Sword!"

A verdant Sword Light, brimming with immense Vitality, shot out. But this was a Vitality that could extinguish all other forms of life. It crashed violently against the Flame Palm Seal.

"Burn!" Di Heng barked. The Flame Palm Seal pressed down on the Cyan Wood Sword Light. Even as the Sword Light sliced a crack into the palm, the Seal instantly heated the blade of light until it glowed red-hot. Its Vitality was annihilated, and the Sword Light dissipated.

WHOOSH!

The very air seemed ready to burst from the aftershock. The Flaming Palm followed through, slamming into Yi Xiaoyao’s chest. He violently spat out a mouthful of blood as his body was thrown hard against the wall behind him.

’Why did his Flame become so terrifying all of a sudden?’ Yi Xiaoyao thought as he coughed up more blood, his chest a charred and mangled wreck from the strike.

Seeing this, the bigwigs on the crimson gate once again shook their heads.

"Di Heng was at the peak of the Void-Entering Realm before his Cultivation was suppressed to the Fourth Realm. He’s not someone an ordinary cultivator at that level can compare to."

"Correct. Unlike an ordinary cultivator at the Void-Entering Fourth Realm, Di Heng has comprehended the Fiery Flame Will!"

"That last palm strike from Di Heng was infused with his Fiery Flame Will, so its power was naturally magnified."

"Still, for that kid in black to force Di Heng to use his Power of Will while only at the Void-Entering Second Realm... that’s incredibly astonishing in itself!"

"Wait, the kid isn’t dead? And his injuries..."

It wasn’t just the bigwigs who were suddenly astonished; even Di Heng’s expression changed drastically.

Because they all saw it: Yi Xiaoyao’s chest, which had been mangled by Di Heng’s palm strike, began to squirm with a green light. In an instant, it was completely healed!

...