The Green Sun Demon Flame Strikes

Chapter 269: Demon Flame Shows Its Might

“Fall back! Everyone, fall back into the formation!” Seeing the azure flames atop the banners growing thicker and brighter, Lü Tianmeng shouted in alarm. He was the first to pull back, retreating in a flash toward the great formation behind him.

The cultivators beside him, hearing this, instinctively followed their leader’s retreat.

Xuan Le, seeing this, did not hesitate. He gave the same order to fall back.

But among Han Li’s side, only a few who had the clear upper hand were able to break off and retreat at will. The rest were met with desperate entanglement from their opponents, completely unable to disengage. Han Li’s own foe also launched a frenzied assault, trying to pin him in place.

Han Li only sneered. He recalled his other magic tools, sacrificed his White Scale Shield, and, weathering the enemy’s attack with its protection, slipped back into the formation with ease. The Heavenly Fiend Sect cultivator was left glaring resentfully outside the formation’s range.

Xuan Le saw that most of his team was still outside the formation, unable to break free, and the fighting was only growing fiercer. He sensed something was wrong and wanted to go out with some others to help, but just as he moved, Lü Tianmeng grabbed him firmly by the arm.

“It’s too late! The Green Sun Demon Flame has already been summoned!” Lü Tianmeng shook his head, his face dark.

Han Li, hearing this, now noticed that atop the red-robed men’s massive flags, their tips had shot out arm-thick streams of azure flame. Over a dozen jets of green fire rushed into the air, gathering into a single enormous ball of green flame several zhang in diameter. It floated gently in the air, swaying faintly, dazzling to behold.

“This?” Xuan Le faltered, about to say something more.

But what the red-robed men did next immediately turned his expression grim.

The red-robed men pointed their banner tips toward the still-ensnared Seven Sect cultivators outside the formation. With a low, muffled pu, the massive fireball split apart, transforming into over a dozen smaller fireballs, each several feet long, which shot straight toward those cultivators.

These azure fireballs were extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, they had ferociously reached the Seven Sect cultivators’ faces.

These men had naturally noticed the great fireball’s transformation. Most of them instinctively sent various magic tools to meet the azure fireballs, while a few used talismans for magical attacks. All of them tried to knock the things down.

Unfortunately, this azure flame, bearing the name “Green Sun Demon Flame,” was truly terrifying.

Whether the attack came from a magic tool or a spell, the moment it touched the azure fireball, it was like a moth flying into a flame—silently, without a trace, it was consumed entirely.

Seeing this impossible sight, the cultivators’ faces turned white as snow.

Before they could think further, over a dozen fireballs crashed into them simultaneously. Their external shields and protective barriers were all extinguished on contact. The men themselves vanished instantly under the demon flame, leaving not a trace behind in this world.

Those cultivators who had not yet been hit saw this horrifying spectacle and did not hesitate for a second. They were willing to take a severe blow from their Heavenly Fiend Sect opponents, or even abandon the magic tools they were using to entangle the enemy, just to flee back into the formation.

But in their panic, two or three of them died directly under their opponents’ magic tools.

Thus, in the first contact alone, the defending Seven Sect side had lost nearly a dozen Qi Condensation disciples and one Foundation Establishment cultivator. The losses were catastrophic.

But the power of the Green Sun Demon Flame did not end there.

The azure fireballs, once again under the red-robed men’s control, merged back into a single entity. Then, turning into a wave of azure flame, they surged straight toward the Four Fiends Formation.

Everyone hiding inside the formation felt their faces change drastically. A look of panic spread through the entire group.

Xuan Le, seeing this, furrowed his brow tightly and asked directly:

“Brother Lü, what exactly is this azure flame? How is a Foundation Establishment cultivator capable of releasing such terrifying true fire? Can the formation’s restrictions hold against its impact?”

Hearing this barrage of questions, Lü Tianmeng could only force a bitter smile. But seeing the other cultivators watching him intently, he had no choice but to explain helplessly:

“I won’t hide this from you all, Fellow Daoists. When I was fighting on the border, I only caught a glimpse of the Green Sun Demon Flame’s terror. As for whether it can break the Four Fiends Formation, I truly have no way of knowing! However, I later heard from some elders that this kind of demon flame cannot be summoned casually. Not only must the Blazing Flame cultivators have cultivated the Green Sun Demon Flame Art, but every summoning also costs them a reduction in their own cultivation base. That is why it is so difficult to withstand.”

Lü Tianmeng’s words left Xuan Le and the others exchanging uneasy glances, their faces full of frustration.

At that moment, the azure flame wave finally collided with the formation’s four-colored barrier. A low, rumbling crack erupted, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.

The azure wave crashed against the four-colored light barrier wave after wave, causing the barrier to ripple unceasingly. But for now, it managed to withstand the terrible demon flame. The Seven Sect cultivators inside the formation all breathed a temporary sigh of relief.

But Han Li and the others did not stay comfortable for long. Their anxiety soon returned.

As time passed, the four-colored light barrier, under the constant scouring of the azure flame, gradually grew dim. This was a clear sign that the great formation was about to break. And though the red-robed men were also drenched in sweat as they waved their massive flags, they could clearly hold on for at least a while longer.

Now, every cultivator inside the formation racked their brains, desperately trying to think of a way to repel the enemy or escape.

Judging from the fate of other attacked spirit mines, the Seven Sect cultivators who fell into demonic hands were not killed immediately but were quickly transported to enemy territory. No one knew exactly what the demonic cultivators would do with their prisoners.

By now, the Seven Sects and the Six Demonic Sects had been fighting so long that their hatred ran as deep as the sea. Would the enemy treat their prisoners leniently? Especially when the demonic side was known for its vicious soul-extraction and soul-refining techniques, which made the Seven Sect cultivators deeply uneasy.

So, surrender was something no one even mentioned unless there was absolutely no other choice.

“I know of an underground passage. It leads directly to a point several dozen li away. It should be enough for us to escape.” The old man Yu Xing, who had been stationed here for over ten years, suddenly spoke calmly.

His words were like a boulder dropped into a still lake, sending up a thousand ripples. Xuan Le and the others were first startled, then grew excited.

“Brother Yu, is that true?”

“Excellent! Now we can get away!”

“We’re saved!”

…

The originally panicked Seven Sect cultivators suddenly had life restored to their faces, their joy overflowing.

Han Li was pleasantly surprised as well. After all, he too had no way to deal with those azure demon flames. Even if he had wanted to fight to the death, there was no point.

Xuan Le and Lü Tianmeng managed to suppress their excitement and confirmed the underground passage’s authenticity once more with Yu Xing. Then, without further hesitation, they gave the order to retreat.

As for the spirit stone mine, there was nothing to worry about. The enemy would at most completely destroy the mine entrance, preventing the mine from resuming spirit stone production quickly. The spirit stones still embedded in the ore could not be taken away at all by the demonic cultivators. And as for the mortal miners, neither side in a battle generally harmed them.

So all they had to do was simply pack up and leave.

Thus, Han Li and the remaining fifty-odd defending cultivators, led by Yu Xing, entered a certain underground tunnel within the spirit stone mine. But the moment they stepped underground, everyone felt the entire canyon tremble slightly.

“The Four Fiends Formation has been broken,” Xuan Le said flatly.

At that, the cultivators’ pace quickened considerably.

…

The tunnel was brilliantly lit by the Moonlight Stones in the cultivators’ hands. From the pitted, uneven walls around them, it was clear that this tunnel had been dug entirely by hand. The cultivators found this somewhat surprising.

According to Yu Xing’s explanation, this tunnel had originally been an extremely long branch vein of spirit stones. So, over time, the miners harvesting them had unknowingly dug out such a long underground passage, which had eventually been completely connected to the other end’s exit.

Fortunately, the tunnel was so long that Yu Xing still remembered it clearly. Otherwise, they would truly have had no way to escape today.

Hearing this, the other cultivators nodded in agreement.

But just then, the tunnel suddenly shook violently. With several booming crashes, it began to collapse in sections.

Under the terrified gazes of the cultivators, endless mud and boulders came crashing down, burying them all. The whole underground world was plunged into pitch-black darkness again.

…

Several hours later, in some natural stone cave within the underground world, a section of the stone wall burst open with a crash and a crash. A lizard-shaped puppet beast charged out from the hole, cautiously looking around before leaping back inside.

About the time it took to eat a meal, the lizard puppet mechanism emerged again from the same hole in the wall. This time, however, it was followed closely by a person who climbed out: Han Li, who had survived the cave-in against all odds.

Han Li stood up and looked around at his surroundings. A look of relief, the gratitude of a survivor, spread across his face.

(The End)