As a streak of flame, the Flame Celestial Sovereign ran for his life.
He didn’t dare to stop, for there were several Earth Immortals hot on his heels. They had suddenly appeared half a month ago, barging into his place of seclusion, the Firecloud Cave. If he hadn’t had a special treasure that laid down a Red Dust Illusion at the cave entrance, and if he hadn’t possessed the resolve to give up on the treasure and run, his life would have already been in their hands.
But he didn’t think his enemies would be so stubborn, and also faster! No matter how he ran, those people were always able to catch up. After the Flame Celestial Sovereign had used everything he had and ensured that he left behind no tracks, he realized that the other side probably had some kind of divination art. He inwardly groaned, for anyone in possession of such an art had to be an extraordinary person. Why were they coming after him? He wanted to stop and ask what was going on, but he was also worried that this would mean he had lost his chance to escape, so he decided to keep running.
He ended up running for more than half a month, but he still wasn’t able to throw off his pursuers. On the contrary, they had managed to get closer and closer. As his chances of escape approached zero, the Flame Celestial Sovereign was indignant. In my travels across the myriad domains, when have I ever been in such dire straits? These people are going too far! Since he couldn’t escape, he decided to fight.
He immediately stopped running, quietly waiting for his enemy while recovering as much as possible for the upcoming battle.
Around two hours later, a group of people appeared in the distance.
One of them angrily smiled at the Flame Celestial Sovereign. “Finally stopped running? What a slippery fellow; you made us chase you for quite a while!”
This man was Jade Truth from the Stellar Net Gate.
The Flame Celestial Sovereign’s flight had left him with a belly full of anger. We were just going to ask you a question, okay? What were you running for, and so fast too! We wasted so many days on you! As for how they had just barged in, not at all like they were just going to ask him a question, he ignored that. The two major sects had dominated the Vast Wilderness Continent for ages, and barging in was normal business, almost necessary in order to keep up their dignity and ensure that nobody underestimated them.
He had no hope that anything would come of these words. Subconsciously, he expected an answer such as “On X day of X month of X year, you passed through Y place and killed Young Master So-and-so of my sect.” This was the most likely answer in his view.
But the other side clearly had no plans to take such a clichéd route.
Flowing Wind cut to the chase, producing the Overflowing Heaven Mirror. “We wanted to ask you if you recognized this person.”
The image of Tang Jie appeared in the mirror.
The Flame Celestial Sovereign saw that it was Tang Jie and finally understood. He shouted, “So you came for his sake! If that’s the case, we have nothing to talk about!”
He unleashed a raging sea of flames.
Nobody had expected him to attack so suddenly, and they were caught off guard. But as there were several Earth Immortals among them, possessing formidable strength, they weren’t about to let him have his way.
Two of them attacked, one taking out his Heavenly King Mirror, which projected the intimidating image of a Heavenly King. The other threw out a Thousand Autumns Pearl, which sought to bring calm and peace to everything.
One treasure focused on suppression and the other focused on stabilization. Thus, even though the Flame Celestial Sovereign’s Origin Flame had absorbed the essence of the Pale Cloud Flame and could simulate many things, this double layer of suppression prevented it from showing its might.
The Flame Celestial Sovereign knew this was a problem and activated his True Flame, using his “Incinerate the World” Dao Art.
This Dao Art was his trump card, and at full strength, its power was not to be underestimated. The two treasures failed to hold it back, and a blazing cloud began to engulf the heavens.
At this moment, a clear voice rang out. “Wildfires scourge the world, but clouds and water are the genesis of all things.”
It was Flowing Wind.
As he spoke, a cloud flew out, bringing wind and fog that greatly weakened the Flame Celestial Sovereign’s world-incinerating flames, even extinguishing much of his Origin Flame, to his great heartache.
It had to be understood that these Origin Flames had been refined over the millennia, and the loss of so much of it all at once was extremely painful.
Flowing Wind said, “It seems that Sir is on the same side as him. No wonder he dared to act under your name. If that’s the case…”
Before he could finish, the Flame Celestial Sovereign said in surprise, “‘On the same side’? You’re saying I’m on the same side as that bastard? He used my name?”
When everyone heard him call Tang Jie a bastard, they all relaxed, and Flowing Wind’s eyes gleamed. “You’re not on the same side? Then why did you attack us?”
The Flame Celestial Sovereign finally realized that something wasn’t right, replying, “I thought he had sent you to kill me.”
“Absurd!” Jade Truth shouted. “This person called himself Hong Qianli and killed many members of our sect. We want nothing more than to consume his flesh and drink his blood!”
Everyone realized that this had all been a big misunderstanding.
Alas, they couldn’t reverse the battle that had already happened. And both sides had suffered losses, the Flame Celestial Sovereign losing his Origin Flames and Flowing Wind using up many of his Genesis Clouds.
After all, Incinerate the World was a Dao Art and couldn’t be dealt with using ordinary means. Both sides had something to wince about.
Afterwards, they proceeded to exchange information. When the Flame Celestial Sovereign heard that Tang Jie had killed more than two hundred Violet Palace experts belonging to the two sects, he almost fainted.
Even though he was an Earth Immortal, the only thing he was sure about in a battle against two hundred Violet Palace experts was his defeat. He really couldn’t imagine how Tang Jie had pulled it off.
He immediately divulged Tang Jie’s real details.
“His real name is Tang Jie, and he comes from the Rosecloud Domain.”
Flowing Wind sent this information into the Overflowing Heaven Mirror, which erupted with light and then displayed the form of Tang Jie.
“Found him!” everyone shouted in unison.