All Flames Bow Down

Li Gu did not speak. He simply drew his bone knife in silence, completely sealing off all of Gu Yang's escape routes.

He did not let his guard down just because Gu Yang looked weak; instead, he became even more vigilant.

"This place is a perilous land. The weak have died long ago. This kid... is suspicious. Should we just kill him?"

"Don't be hasty."

Yin Sha raised his hand to stop Li Gu. His cold, sinister eyes scanned Gu Yang up and down, as if trying to see right through him.

"The formations here are bizarre, and the Spirit-Seeking Compass in my hand has already failed. The area ahead is hard to read, and we happen to lack a pathfinder."

At this moment, Gu Yang was trembling all over. His face was deathly pale, and his eyes were filled with terror:

"S... spare my life, two seniors! This lowly one just... just wanted to come in and scavenge for some scraps. I don't want to die..."

He played the part of a cowardly, spineless rogue cultivator to absolute perfection.

"Don't be nervous. I don't kill trash."

Yin Sha's voice was so gentle it made one's hair stand on end. He pointed at Gu Yang, then pointed at the mist-shrouded area ahead.

"Our Spirit-Seeking Compass is broken, and we can't see the path clearly. How convenient, we'll just borrow your life for a bit."

Gu Yang scrambled up, shivering, his eyes full of despair.

He glanced at his system panel.

[Countdown: Fifteen breaths.]

"S... senior, that way looks like a dead zone..." Gu Yang pointed at a patch of grass ahead that seemed brimming with spiritual energy but was actually fraught with hidden killing intent, attempting to kindly remind them.

"Shut up. Just walk when you're told to."

Yin Sha did not believe Gu Yang's words at all; he only trusted his own judgment.

Under the observation of his ocular technique, although that patch of grass was rich in spiritual energy, it had no fluctuating formation patterns, making it relatively safe. Conversely, the direction of the black sludge where Gu Yang wanted to go was entirely lifeless.

Gu Yang could only brace himself and walk forward.

But he walked very slowly, as if every step was stalling for time.

"He's stalling for time," Li Gu suddenly spoke from behind, his voice deep. "Second brother, this kid is plotting something."

These two were too sharp!

Just a slight change in Gu Yang's walking pace was enough to arouse their suspicion.

Yin Sha frowned, seemingly about to teach Gu Yang a lesson.

Right at that instant.

Gu Yang stopped.

He stood right on the boundary line between the safe grass and the black sludge.

With his back to the two of them, his originally hunched and trembling figure suddenly straightened up.

"Ten breaths."

Gu Yang suddenly spoke, his voice eerily calm.

"What?" Yin Sha was taken aback, instinctively sensing that something was wrong.

"Retreat!"

These two demonic cultivators reacted extremely fast. The moment Gu Yang's tone changed, instead of attacking, they both explosively retreated backward in perfect synchronization!

They were suspicious by nature. The moment they felt something was amiss, their first reaction was to put distance between themselves and the threat, absolutely refusing to stand beneath a collapsing wall.

However, this step back was exactly what Gu Yang had been waiting for.

The direction they retreated to was exactly where they had just been standing, a spot that was safe five breaths ago.

But now...

"Three, two, one."

Formation Shift: Yin Wood Soul-Locking changes to Metal and Fire Slaughter!

At this moment, the true Gate of Life was located upon that patch of black sludge.

Boom!!!

The world suddenly changed.

Gu Yang's figure moved like lightning, and in that split second, he stepped onto the seemingly filthy and highly toxic black sludge.

Meanwhile, the ground beneath the two demonic cultivators' feet instantly cracked open!

But that was not the most lethal part.

The most lethal part was that the multicolored mist originally permeating the air ignited in an instant, transforming into a sky full of Geng-Metal Flowing Fire!

An indiscriminate blanket attack!

"The formation changed?!"

Yin Sha's expression changed drastically as the formation compass in his hand shattered instantly.

"Defend!"

Li Gu reacted extremely quickly, swinging the bone knife in his hand to form a blood-red barrier, firmly shielding the two of them.

Their demonic methods were indeed formidable. Even in the face of such a sudden mutation in the formation, they still managed to withstand the first wave of impact.

"Brat, you are courting death!!"

Yin Sha was infuriated. He never expected that after a lifetime of hunting geese, he would end up having his eyes pecked out by one.

However, standing on the black sludge, Gu Yang looked back at the miserable duo in the sea of fire with an icy expression.

The moment the rampaging flowing fire was about to touch the hem of Gu Yang's clothes, it unexpectedly parted to both sides as if encountering some great terror, like courtiers not daring to look directly upon their monarch's face.

Yin Sha's pupils violently constricted.

How could this be possible? This was the fire of an indiscriminate killing formation!

The next second, a scene that made them feel even more despair unfolded.

The sallow-faced rogue cultivator, who had been nothing but an ant in their eyes, suddenly ignited with a layer of dark golden flames all over his body.

He did not take the opportunity to flee. Instead, standing across the sea of fire, he took a deep breath.

Whoosh...

A bizarre scene occurred.

The originally incomparably violent Geng-Metal Flowing Fire, which intended to incinerate everything, instantly lost all its ferocity and killing intent the moment it touched the golden flames on Gu Yang's body. It caused no harm whatsoever; instead, like hundreds of rivers returning to the sea, it was docilely absorbed into Gu Yang's nose, mouth, and pores.

Assimilation!

Those lethal formation attacks, capable of melting gold and dissolving iron, directly transformed into pure spiritual energy at this moment. It surged madly through his meridians into his dantian, becoming his most tyrannical nourishment!

The special effect of the Great Sun Heaven-Burning Sutra: Submission of Ten Thousand Fires!

In the face of the supreme-tier Great Sun True Fire, this mere mortal fire from a formation could only kneel and sacrifice itself!

Feeling his aura rising steadily within his body, Gu Yang slowly raised his right hand and aimed it at the two who were bitterly resisting and rapidly depleting their spiritual energy.

One side was weakening while the other was growing stronger.

They were fighting against the might of heaven, while Gu Yang was acting as heaven's executioner.

"Tastes pretty good."

A cold sneer curled the corners of Gu Yang's lips as his five fingers abruptly clenched into a fist.

"Giving it back to you."

Boom!

The sky full of flowing fire that he had originally absorbed and assimilated was instantly compressed and qualitatively changed in his palm, transforming into a golden fire dragon with a color so deep it was almost black, roaring out!

This strike not only contained Gu Yang's own spiritual energy, but also superimposed the violent energy of the entire grand formation that had been devoured!

"No!! How could this fire be eaten by you?!"

Li Gu let out a terrified roar. The blood-red bone knife he was so proud of, the moment it touched that fire dragon, was like lard thrown onto a red-hot iron, it instantly melted and evaporated!

That was the absolute nemesis of blood malefic energy, and even more so, the despair of low-tier energy facing a high-tier true fire!

"It's Supreme Yang True Fire! He is using the formation to cultivate! Flee!!"

Yin Sha was a formation master after all. At a glance, he could tell that Gu Yang had just been swallowing fire to nourish his body, and he was frightened out of his wits. How was this a rogue cultivator? This was clearly the ancestor of playing with fire!

No longer caring about his companion, he crushed a precious Blood Escape Talisman in his hand, transforming into a streak of blood light to forcefully break through the net of fire.

"Trying to leave?"

Golden light flared brightly in Gu Yang's eyes. His body, having devoured the fire of the formation, was now filled with explosive power. He took a step forward and threw a punch.

That punch was like a blazing sun exploding in the mist.

Yin Sha, who had just turned into a streak of blood light and flown into midair, was directly blown up in the sky by this punch!

"Bang!"

Before the rain of blood could even fall, it was evaporated into nothingness by the high temperature.

The remaining Li Gu was completely engulfed in despair.

His defenses were broken, his companion was killed, and he was suppressed by the formation.

"I'll take you down with me!!"