The scroll automatically unfurled, revealing a portrait of a handsome middle-aged man in a blue robe, standing with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the moon. Though his expression was serene, his presence was awe-inspiring.
After the portrait appeared, the crimson lightning that had been attacking him suddenly stopped, trembling violently as if affected by some unknown force.
True Lord Tian Xu was overjoyed, for he held Ancestor Yan Yuan's portrait in his hand.
It wasn't an ordinary portrait, but a special Divine Soul defense Magic Treasure personally crafted by Ancestor Yan Yuan. It was imbued with Ancestor Yan Yuan's Divine Soul aura, and it seemed to be effective.
As True Lord Tian Xu continued to channel the scroll, the crimson lightning before him dissipated into smoke.
True Lord Tian Xu let out a hearty laugh and was about to fly towards the Crimson Thunder Pagoda.
But just then, a peculiar dragon's roar echoed from below.
A beam of black and white light pierced through the surging, glowing halo from below and shot upwards.
In the next moment, a figure appeared in the air. This person was clad in a tattered black and white tight-fitting robe, with messy hair and covered in wounds. It was none other than Yan Jingchen.
He appeared calm, yet with a hint of strangeness in his expression, staring intently at the Crimson Thunder Pagoda not far away, as if recalling something. He completely ignored True Lord Tian Xu nearby.
True Lord Tian Xu halted, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Then, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed in disbelief, "You've actually advanced to the late stage! How is that possible!?"
Although Yan Jingchen's external Spiritual Pressure was not apparent, to True Lord Tian Xu's Spiritual Sense, Yan Jingchen was like a colossal mountain, making even him feel a sense of awe.
At this moment, Yan Jingchen's cultivation realm had genuinely reached the late Nascent Soul stage, which truly terrified True Lord Tian Xu.
After all, when Yan Jingchen was still at the peak of the mid Nascent Soul stage, he already possessed strength comparable to a mid-tier Great Cultivator.
Now that he had truly advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage, his strength had naturally increased significantly.
While his strength might not yet reach the level of a top-tier Great Cultivator, he had definitely reached the high-tier Great Cultivator level, and was undoubtedly among the cream of the crop. True Lord Tian Xu knew he was no match for him now.
At the same time, True Lord Tian Xu also realized why Yan Jingchen had fought so ferociously against Ning Fa's Divine Thunder of the Five Elements earlier.
It was clearly very likely that he intended to use the stimulation from the Divine Thunder of the Five Elements to advance, and it seemed he had indeed succeeded.
True Lord Tian Xu's expression shifted multiple times, but being a shrewd individual, he took a deep breath, remaining calm despite his shock.
Flipping his right hand, a red Talisman appeared in his grasp. It bore the pattern of a red fire lotus, looking mysterious and unfathomable.
A fierce glint flashed in True Lord Tian Xu's eyes, and he threw it out without hesitation.
This Talisman contained a special Red Lotus Karmic Fire, specifically designed to attack a cultivator's Divine Soul.
Upon contact with even a trace of it, the negative emotions within a cultivator's Divine Soul would ignite, becoming nourishment for the Red Lotus Karmic Fire.
Furthermore, the stronger the opponent's Divine Soul power, the more potent this Karmic Fire would become, quickly burning the entire Divine Soul to ashes.
Only a sect with a long heritage like Fu Ling Hall would possess such a terrifying Talisman.
This was True Lord Tian Xu's trump card, besides his two Spirit Treasures.
Before the Talisman was even close to Yan Jingchen, it exploded, transforming into a mass of eerie crimson flames flickering with runes.
It drifted as if insubstantial, then with a flash of fire, it vanished into the Void.
But at this moment, Yan Jingchen, who had appeared somewhat dazed, abruptly raised his right hand.
Black and white lightning crackled around his hand, and a ball of red flame pulsed violently in his palm, desperately trying to break free.
However, as the black and white lightning in Yan Jingchen's hand intensified, the red spiritual fire turned into nothingness.
"How is this possible!?" True Lord Tian Xu was dumbfounded. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that the Red Lotus Karmic Fire could be extinguished so easily.
Yan Jingchen then turned to look at him, his expression indifferent, and said, "This belongs to me. You cannot lay your hands on it."
As soon as he finished speaking, a light emanated from him, and he flew towards the Crimson Thunder Pagoda.
"Stay where you are!" True Lord Tian Xu, despite his shock, was not about to let this Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure go so easily and roared in anger.
Flipping his right hand, a deep blue ring appeared, and he was about to summon it.
But just then, the Crimson Thunder Pagoda suddenly blazed with crimson light, emitting a crimson lightning fire that transformed into a Thunder Chain, wrapping around True Lord Tian Xu's waist with lightning speed.
True Lord Tian Xu immediately felt all his magical power sealed. The ring in his hand, which had been radiating spiritual light, turned dim.
True Lord Tian Xu's face contorted in horror, his heart churning like a stormy sea.
"How can he control this treasure!?"
At that moment, a startling thunderous roar erupted from the still raging halo below.
A figure, enveloped in five-colored lightning, charged forward. Then, a long sword shimmering with five-colored lightning slashed fiercely at Yan Jingchen.
The person was none other than Ning Fa.
Yan Jingchen turned slightly, glanced at him expressionlessly, then flicked his right hand. A lightning dragon formed from black and white lightning lunged at the five-colored spiritual sword with bared fangs and claws.
Simultaneously, he made a grasping motion in the air, and the Crimson Thunder Pagoda landed steadily in his hand.
The corner of his mouth curled slightly, and with a gentle shake, a lightning fire shot from the pagoda, once again forming that special Thunder Chain, attempting to repeat its previous move and restrain Ning Fa.
But this Thunder Chain stopped in mid-air, trembling violently, and did not advance towards Ning Fa.
Seeing this, Yan Jingchen's brows furrowed deeply.
At the same time, within the light barrier at the edge of this space, a graceful figure quietly appeared.
This was the mysterious woman who had appeared when Ning Fa first entered the Haolei Tower's space.
Currently, her beautiful and moving face was furrowed, and she looked back and forth between Yan Jingchen and Ning Fa, her exquisite eyes filled with indecision.
Finally, she took a deep breath, made up her mind, and formed a peculiar hand seal.
At the same time, the Crimson Thunder Pagoda in Yan Jingchen's hand shone brightly, enveloping him. When the light disappeared, Yan Jingchen was also gone.
True Lord Tian Xu, who was bound by the crimson thunder chains, couldn't help but glare with rage and roar repeatedly upon seeing this.
Ning Fa, who had just shattered the black and white thunder dragon in front of him, couldn't help but change his expression.
Yan Jingchen had mysteriously disappeared, and he had taken the Crimson Thunder Pagoda with him. Did this mean he was about to gain control of this Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure?
Thinking of this, Ning Fa felt extremely dejected, realizing that all his efforts had been in vain.
Yan Jingchen was truly terrifying, actually managing to break through by stimulating his Divine Thunder of the Five Elements.
Now that he was about to obtain this Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure, his strength would likely be unmatched by few.
Even he would need to advance to Mid Nascent Soul and possess at least one High-grade Spirit Treasure-level treasure to be able to contend with this person.
Ning Fa felt even more helpless thinking about this.
Although he had gained the mysterious Ice Pearl during his trip to Sun Peak, it was nowhere comparable to this Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasure. It could be said that all his efforts had been in vain.
However, Ning Fa took a deep breath and decided to act decisively; it was best to escape as soon as possible.
But just as he was about to use Lightning Escape, a strange crimson lightning light suddenly emerged from beneath his feet. Ning Fa's expression changed drastically, and his entire body vanished within the crimson lightning.
True Lord Tian Xu's expression changed again, but he immediately became extremely grim. At this moment, he secretly held a fist-sized, lustrous round bead in his hand, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
On the other side, Ning Fa's vision blurred, and he found himself in an unfamiliar place.
He immediately became alert, scanning his surroundings, and soon relaxed slightly.
This seemed to be a valley about ten miles in radius, with a thick barrier of light at its edges. The valley was filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, but it was also permeated with an unimaginably dense Fire Spiritual Power, which made Ning Fa inwardly gasp.
The concentration of Fire Spiritual Power here had definitely reached the fifth-tier level!
Ning Fa took a deep breath and examined the surroundings carefully.
He saw various fire-attributed Spiritual Grass and Spirit Flowers everywhere in the valley. He also saw a small, fiery red rabbit leisurely running in the valley, occasionally nibbling on the surrounding Spiritual Grass.
Ning Fa stared intently at the Fire Rabbit, his eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty.
As he unleashed his Spiritual Sense, he immediately discovered that the rabbit's body contained an extremely surging flame.
Ning Fa's expression changed drastically in an instant. He immediately withdrew his Spiritual Sense and closed his eyes.
However, wisps of Flame Essence still overflowed from the corners of his eyes.
After a long while, Ning Fa finally managed to open his eyes, which were still fiery red. His expression was now one of extreme shock.
This rabbit was definitely not an ordinary Spirit Beast, but the manifestation of some extremely powerful Spirit Flame.
Ning Fa's gaze seemed to have startled the rabbit as well. It stared at Ning Fa with its ruby-like eyes, displaying an anthropomorphic look of terror, and then darted into a patch of dense flowers, disappearing without a trace.
Ning Fa frowned; this place was truly very strange.
At this moment, he suddenly looked up.
He saw that at an altitude of several hundred feet, a low humming sound could be heard.
Ning Fa looked closely and his expression changed slightly.
He saw that at that high altitude, a massive formation several miles in size was suspended, its array patterns and talisman light flashing as it rotated.
Above it, crimson blazes, like a waterfall, poured down from an unknown source, absorbed by the colossal formation.
As it rotated, strands of extremely pure spiritual energy drifted down from below the magic array, clearly the reason for the high concentration of spiritual energy in this valley.
Ning Fa was shocked, then thoughtful.
When he first entered Sun Peak, he had seen a massive pillar of fire flowing into the tip of the thunder pagoda, which clearly led here.
Ning Fa had initially thought that Yan Yuan Daoist intended to use this to repair the thunder pagoda's damage, but now it seemed that was not the case.
Combining this with the distinct sense of decay he had felt upon first entering the thunder pagoda, Ning Fa couldn't help but feel a strange sensation.
These arrangements seemed more intended for this valley, or more accurately, for that obviously extraordinary Fire Rabbit.
As Ning Fa was pondering, his expression suddenly changed. He looked sharply to his right and sternly asked, "Who's there?"
Not far away, the air rippled, revealing the phantom image of a maiden in a white dress, beautiful and moving.