The clash of blades had long drowned out the howl of the wind, even dyeing the air a dark crimson.
Wind whirled with fine golden metal rock fragments, lashing Cang Lie's silver-white battle armor with a rustling sound. From the cracks in the armor's shoulder plates, black blood mixed with pale golden Stone People's essence dripped slowly along the armor's grooves.
Each drop fell onto the charred rock ground, burning a tiny bloodstain before being vaporized by the residual warmth of the golden metal spiritual vein into a blood-scented mist.
Cang Lie's golden metal long sword trembled in his grip, the Nanming Golden Metal Flames on the blade flickering erratically—his old shoulder wound had split open again during his earlier fight with Qiongqi.
The injury was inflicted two days prior, when he'd defended the Spiritual Plant Sacred Fire from a surprise attack by a Demonized Golden Metal Beast. He'd taken the claw strike head-on to block the fatal blow. Now, gnawed by Qiongqi's black gales repeatedly, the bone-deep pain spread along his shoulder blade, sending tearing spasms through every sword swing and making the flames in his dantian flicker unsteadily.
"Little White Tiger—you dare flaunt those dying embers before me?"
Qiongqi's sneer echoed from midair. Its wings spread wide, the hundred-eighty-zhang body casting a colossal shadow over the Golden Metal Stone Forest. The black patterns on its wings glowed with an eerie crimson light, and each beat stirred up a skyful of black gales.
The wind blades, sharp as fine steel needles and laced with chaos miasma that could corrode spiritual veins, swept down toward the Black Armored Stone People and Spiritual Plant clansmen below.
The Spiritual Plant clansmen were the remaining survivors of Elder Qingmang's tribe. At that moment, they held the embers of the Spiritual Plant Sacred Fire aloft, weaving emerald vines into a waist-high defensive line.
Though faint, the sacred fire's pale crimson glow stood like an impassable barrier, holding back the black gales' corrosion—it was the hope Elder Qingmang had sacrificed her life to protect. Qingya, the oldest of the Spiritual Plant clansmen, pressed trembling hands against the sacred fire embers, channeling his emerald essence into them continuously, oblivious to the blisters scorching his palms.
"Form the Black Stone Entrapment Formation!"
Xuan Jia, leader of the Black Armored Stone People, roared as he raised his stone shield. The shield's edges were already jagged from the black gales' corrosion, his left arm armor shattered to reveal the pale golden stone body beneath.
Behind him, dozens of Stone People clustered together. Pale golden spiritual light seeped through the gaps between their shields, instantly condensing into a ten-foot-tall stone wall—their signature defensive formation, which had fended off countless chaos beast assaults in the past.
But the moment the black wind blades touched the stone shields, they corroded dense holes into them like acid. The three young Stone People at the front line didn't even have time to scream before their stone bodies were shredded into pieces.
Pale golden stone dust mixed with their essence blood fell onto the rock ground, vaporized into mist by the spiritual vein's warmth, and drifted toward the sacred fire—as if one last act of protection for that faint glimmer of light.
Seeing this, Qingya roared and channeled his vine power instantly. Emerald vines shot out like spirit snakes, trying to wrap around the Stone People's remains—the core of a Black Armored Stone Person lay in their chest, and protecting it might give them a chance to rebuild their bodies.
But Qiongqi's black gales swept down again. The vines withered the moment they touched the wind blades. Several young Spiritual Plant clansmen had their arms sliced open by the blades, their dark green blood dripping onto the sacred fire embers.
Strangely enough, the moment the blood made contact with the fire, the faint pale crimson glow flared brightly all at once!
"It's the Blood-Feeding Fire Secret Technique passed down by the Elder!" A flash of ecstasy crossed Qingya's eyes, only to be replaced by grief moments later. "Using our clan's essence blood as a catalyst, we can reignite the sacred fire temporarily! Defend the fire—that's defending the Elder's life's work!"
The injured Spiritual Plant clansmen understood at once. Gritting their teeth against the pain, they pressed their arms to the sacred fire, letting their blood drip slowly into the embers. The fire's glow grew brighter and brighter, condensing into a thin flame barrier in front of the defensive line. Black wind blades shattered into green smoke the moment they hit the barrier.
"We'll see how long you can hold on!"
Qiongqi's eyes blazed with savagery at the sight. It gathered black-red feral aura in its right claw, the tip glinting with cold light sharp enough to tear apart innate spiritual treasures, and lunged straight for Cang Lie's heart—it had calculated that Cang Lie would be too busy protecting the Spiritual Plant clansmen to defend himself.
Cang Lie gritted his teeth and swung his sword to block. The moment blade met claw, the Golden Metal Flames and black gales exploded. The shockwave sent him stumbling backward, black blood spraying from his shoulder wound and freezing into black ice crystals the second it hit the ground.
He could feel the Nanming Golden Metal Flames in his dantian nearly sputter out. If not for the wisp of Spiritual Plant essence Elder Qingmang had passed to him before her death, he would have dropped his sword long ago.
Just then, a streak of crimson celestial light shot toward them from the side.
Zhu Yan's figure streaked past the golden metal rock pillars like a meteor, her body wreathed in Nanming Lihuo that condensed into a ten-foot-long fire spear. The spear tip glowed with eerie blue supreme yang fire, striking Qiongqi's claw tip with pinpoint accuracy.
"Clang!"
The sharp ring made the entire stone forest tremble slightly. Sparks flew in all directions, and Qiongqi stumbled backward, the feral aura on its claw tip incinerated into green smoke by the flames in an instant. It stared at Zhu Yan in disbelief, clearly not expecting this sudden appearance of a Vermilion Bird with such formidable power.
Zhu Yan landed beside Cang Lie, the hem of her crimson feather robe still flickering with unextinguished fire feathers. Wherever the feathers touched the ground, they burned away all traces of the black gale miasma completely.
The Vermilion Bird mark between her brows glowed with blazing crimson light, her voice carrying unshakable resolve: "Fellow Daoist Cang Lie, leave this fiend to me! Go protect the spiritual vein! Elder Qingmang's sacred fire must not be harmed any further. If the vein is corrupted by demon aura, the Western Wasteland will be truly lost!"
Cang Lie was about to respond when the ground suddenly shook violently.
At the edge of the distant Golden Metal Stone Forest, a colossal two-hundred-zhang figure was charging toward the golden metal spiritual vein—it was Tao Tie!
Every step of its sheep-bodied, human-faced form split deep trenches in the rock ground. The golden metal spiritual energy seeping from the trench bottoms was instantly sucked toward its massive maw by the feral aura surrounding it.
This beast had devoured three major spiritual veins in the Southern Wasteland a few days earlier, and its ferocity had only grown stronger. The compound eyes under its armpits glowed with eerie green light, its gaze fixed on the spiritual vein like a jackal eyeing its prey.
It opened its fanged maw wide, and a wave of black-red devouring power swept toward the spiritual vein in an instant—several spiritual herbs that had just revived under the sacred fire's nourishment at the vein's edge were instantly drained to withered dust.
Even the golden metal spiritual energy underground began to converge toward its mouth. Fine cracks appeared on the rock ground surface, as if it were about to be torn apart by the suction force.
"Tao Tie! Daring to touch the spiritual vein—you will pay with your life!"
Zhu Yan let out a sharp shout, the Nanming Lihuo around her body surging instantly. Countless fire feathers shot toward Tao Tie like a meteor shower, blazing with demon-incinerating power the moment they drew near, trying to stop its devouring rampage.
But Tao Tie paid it no mind at all. Its compound eyes flickered with green light, and it opened its maw wide to swallow all the fire feathers whole. A contented rumble rumbled in its throat, and sparks even dripped from the corners of its mouth: "A Vermilion Bird's flames taste far better than the Spiritual Plant Clan's origin power! Give me more!"
Before its words faded, it suddenly lunged downward, its maw sucking violently in the direction of the Spiritual Plant Sacred Fire.
An irresistible force instantly engulfed the three Spiritual Plant clansmen beside the sacred fire. Qingya tried to channel his vines to resist, only to find his body being pulled toward Tao Tie uncontrollably. He could feel his Spiritual Plant essence being siphoned away forcefully, the emerald glow fading rapidly from his fingertips.
"The Elder's sacred fire must not be lost!"
Qing He—the youngest Spiritual Plant clansman, sharing the same name as the Eastern Sea's Qing He but of the same clan—glowed with resolve in his eyes. He bit down hard on his tongue, detonating all his Spiritual Plant origin power instantly. Emerald essence condensed into a light shield in front of him, barely blocking the devouring force.
But the shield was as fragile as paper against Tao Tie's immense power. It held for only a split second before being smashed to pieces by a single claw strike. Qing He's body, along with those of the other two clansmen, was sucked into Tao Tie's maw. Their screams were muffled completely by the devouring force.
The pale crimson glow of the sacred fire flickered violently, on the verge of being snuffed out.
"Clansmen!"
Zhu Yan's eyes were bloodshot with rage. The Nanming Lihuo around her body transformed into a crimson fire chain instantly, coiling around Tao Tie's neck like a spirit snake. The chain sizzled as it burned, yet it only left a few charred marks on Tao Tie's skin—as hard as black iron, impervious even to innate spiritual treasures.
Irritated by the fire chain, Tao Tie shook its head violently, yanking Zhu Yan straight toward it. Its massive claw, wreathed in black gales, swung toward Zhu Yan's chest—clearly intent on swallowing this meddlesome Vermilion Bird along with the spiritual vein to eliminate all obstacles.
Seeing this, Cang Lie ignored his shoulder wound, swinging his golden metal long sword in a blinding golden arc. He channeled all the remaining Nanming Golden Metal Flames in his dantian into the blade, which glowed with blazing golden light as it stabbed straight for Tao Tie's eye socket—its most vulnerable spot, which had been injured by a Spiritual Plant Clan elder's secret technique during its spiritual vein devouring spree in the Southern Wasteland and had yet to heal.
"Roar!"
Tao Tie was forced to dodge sideways. Its old eye wound was grazed by the golden light, and black blood seeped out instantly. Zhu Yan seized the chance to break free from the fire chain, her flames surging again to form a hundred-zhang-winged Vermilion Bird illusion. It slammed into Tao Tie's abdomen with sky-burning force—the core of its devouring power, and also the old wound that had been grievously injured by the Spiritual Plant Clan elder's origin power the day before.
"Roar——!"
Tao Tie let out a shrill scream of agony, its abdomen charred black by the flames, and its devouring force faltered instantly. But its ferocity only grew stronger, enraged by the pain. It sucked violently toward the golden metal spiritual vein once more.
The golden metal rock on the vein's surface began to peel off, and pale golden spiritual energy flooded into its mouth like a tide. The rock ground caved in at a visible speed, revealing the spiritual vein's origin, which was still laced with demon aura.
It was the trace of demon cultivator corruption, not yet fully purified. When Tao Tie inhaled it, the feral aura around its body flared even more intensely. Black-red patterns squirmed wildly under its skin, as if countless demon worms were wriggling beneath the surface.
The bloodlust in the Western Wasteland had grown thick enough to touch.
The pale golden blood of the Stone People, the emerald blood of the Spiritual Plant Clan, and the black blood of the ferocious beasts mixed together, flowing along the rock ground's cracks and pooling into a thick blood puddle at the collapsed spiritual vein site.
The moment the first drop of blood touched the spiritual vein's origin, a mutation occurred—the blood flared like ignited oil, bursting into black-red blood flames that spread rapidly along the spiritual vein. Even the spiritual energy in Tao Tie's mouth was dyed crimson.
These blood flames contained not only the resentment of the fallen creatures but also the residual soul will of Elder Qingmang. As the flames swept across the spiritual vein, Elder Qingmang's illusion faintly appeared, waving a hand gently toward the sacred fire to stabilize its flickering crimson glow and make Tao Tie's devouring motion stall for a split second.
At the same time, the battle in the East China Sea had reached a white-hot pitch.
Ao Xuan stood at the eye of the Azure Dragon Sea-Suppressing Formation, the Innate Dragon Pearl hovering in midair with cyan-gold spiritual light. But the glow was far less bright than usual, flickering with faint tremors. The formation patterns were crisscrossed with spiderweb-like cracks—leftover marks from Taowu's repeated assaults.
The deepest crack was wide enough to fit an adult's arm, and black feral aura seeped slowly through it.
This tiger-bodied, human-faced beast had gone completely berserk. The black patterns on its body glowed with bloodlight, each charge carrying the power to destroy heaven and earth. When its front claws slammed into the formation barrier, the spiritual light on the barrier's surface flickered violently.
The Black Armored Giant Whale at the formation's eye had been struck until it spat blood, its colossal body teetering unsteadily in the seawater. The dragon patterns on its dorsal armor had faded significantly, and its blue blood spread through the seawater like ink.
"Fellow Daoist Yinglong! Channel the Heavenly River's waters to reinforce the formation!"
Ao Xuan's voice carried a hint of urgency. The Merit Golden Light glowed at his fingertips, flowing slowly along the formation patterns in an attempt to repair the cracks. But the moment the golden light touched the feral aura deep in the cracks, it was dyed gray-black instantly. The repair speed could not keep up with Taowu's charging frequency.
Yinglong spread his thousand-zhang wings. As the wingtips skimmed the sea surface, he channeled the Nine-Bend Heavenly River's rainwater to converge toward the formation. The rain fell like a waterfall, forming a thin water film over the formation patterns to seal the cracks temporarily.
But every time Taowu charged, the water film shattered, and the splashing water droplets were laced with black feral aura. When they landed on the Black Armored Guards' armor, they corroded tiny holes into it instantly.
"Hundun! Disrupt his water veins!"