'Well, she isn't dumb after all.' Although Yun Wuji wanted to enjoy a few good fights, he was not a battle maniac. Why would he deliberately provoke Ling Xian just to fight her? If he were truly that desperate, he could have gone straight to the Pure Land and flattened Mo Su along with the High Priests in one go.
That would have been far more interesting than battling Ling Xian, who was struggling even to control her own power, a power that threatened to spiral out of control at any moment.
When Li Suo recovered a portion of her memories, she told him about the Pale Flame and how Ni Xuan granted the Three Beast Clans their powers. As usual, Yun Wuji relied on the skills he was most proficient at, scamming and acting.
Since the Phoenix, the Golden Crow, and the Ice Phoenix kept pestering him about the Vermillion Bird, he began to hatch a plan.
First, provoking Ling Xian into coming to him, then challenging her to a fight while revealing the flames of both the Phoenix and the Golden Crow, and finally leading her to the conclusion that he was Ni Xuan's inheritor.
Given the debt of gratitude the three clans owed to Ni Xuan, Ling Xian would naturally feel a sense of closeness toward him, and that was something he could work with.
"Ni Xuan's power? I don't know what you are talking about." Bathed in a sea of crimson and golden flames, Yun Wuji frowned as he pointed a finger at her. "We are here to fight, not to chit-chat. It is time for me to make my move."
Swoosh!
Blazing Sunray!
From the tip of his finger, dense golden light condensed rapidly before shooting toward her at half the speed of how long you usually last.
It was a point-based fire attack skill that far surpassed Golden Annihilation in power. The concept behind Golden Annihilation lay in compressing Golden Crow flames into a single line, while Blazing Sunray took it even further, condensing everything into a single point. The moment it was successfully released, it became akin to extreme flames pouring straight from the blazing sun itself.
The weak point of Blazing Sunray was that it required several times more condensing time than Golden Annihilation. However, this weakness did not apply to Yun Wuji, because one of his Unfettered Profound Veins' basic abilities was explosiveness, allowing his profound strength to move at an instantaneous speed while always remaining at peak power.
The golden sunray caught Ling Xian off guard. She barely managed to twist her torso aside when the ray pierced through her right shoulder, bursting out from her back. It continued along its path, tearing through the dense gray fog and traveling an extremely large distance beyond her.
BOOMM!
Even from far away, one could see the golden hemisphere and feel the shockwaves spreading in every direction along with the intense heatwaves that made Su Shang, who possessed one of the greatest fire resistances in the world, feel her skin tingling.
"As expected of Senior Ni Xuan's inheritor." Ling Xian did not even bother glancing at her injury as she smiled kindly. "No need to try to hide it. I bear no ill will. To be immune to flames, only Senior Ni Xuan possessed such an ability. Since you carry his power, it is only normal that you have inherited his ability as well."
In the Primordial Era, there were many True Gods who possessed high resistance to flames. At the forefront stood the three beast clans, whose affinity with fire bordered on the extreme. However, complete immunity to it was another matter entirely. Across the whole universe, the only person who ever held such an ability was the Creation God of the Elements, Ni Xuan.
Staring at this incomprehensibly handsome man, Ling Xian seemed to understand why he carried such arrogance and carefreeness, seemingly indifferent to her or the Pure Land. As the inheritor of a Creation God, he truly had every right to act this way.
"I did inherit his power, and I do have his profound veins." Yun Wuji stared at her for a moment before his expression relaxed, admitting calmly. He did not lie; he had truly inherited Ni Xuan's power, though only one of his bodies carried it. Not only had he inherited his power, but he had also inherited his daughters, and in the future, he would inherit his wife as well.
And of course, he had also inherited his dream Goddess, Li Suo.
He would truly become Ni Xuan's complete inheritor, claiming everything the Creation God had left behind.
Ling Xian watched him silently for a long while before sighing. "It is indeed the power of Lord Ni Xuan. I never imagined that after experiencing the separation of worlds, I could be bathed in Lord Ni Xuan's divine aura again at this moment of utter exhaustion… It must be divine mercy."
"Could it be that you knew him before?" Yun Wuji knew little about her; all he understood was that she was the daughter of the Vermillion Bird and that her bloodline was impure, mixed with other elements, which caused her to suffer from unstable energies. Beyond that, he knew nothing.
Ling Xian shook her head. "Lord Ni Xuan is no ordinary being. How could I have the honor of knowing him? But my Vermilion Bird Clan has received Lord Ni Xuan's great kindness for generations. This kindness is engraved in our souls, and even if our souls perish, it will never be forgotten."
Suddenly, she flew closer to him. As she did, the colossal figure of the Vermillion Bird behind her faded, and with it, the crimson light in her eyes dimmed. Slowly, the crimson sea of fire began to die down until only a few strands of flame, resembling feathers, drifted amidst the grey mist of Abyssal Dust before dispersing upon touching the ground.
"It is said that Lord Ni Xuan was known as the most handsome man in the universe. Seeing you now, it seems that in terms of looks alone, you are not inferior to him at all." Ling Xian nodded, her gaze fixed on his face with clear appreciation.
"Why did you stop? Our fight is not over yet," Yun Wuji asked.
"No need to fight anymore. How could I take the Primal Flame Crystal from you or force you to apologize to my disciple?" Ling Xian waved her hand casually, her smile gentle and kind, like that of an elder toward a junior. "This time, the victory is yours."
'First step: success!' Yun Wuji shouted in his mind. Although Ling Xian looked like an old granny now, her current appearance could not hide the charm she had possessed in the past.
Though her face had aged, the gentle and timeless charm emanating from her made her seem like a deity stepping out of an ancient painting, radiating silent majesty while remaining approachable enough to inspire reverence. Her gray hair was pinned up with a red jade hairpin, a few stray strands brushing her temples, contrasting with her red dress and exuding an aura both ancient and ethereal.
Although Hua Qingying had told him that Ling Xian harbored some feelings for Mo Su, and Yun Wuji knew nothing of their backstory or the depth of those feelings, he had never met a woman who would not fall for him if he made the effort.
Heck, if he hadn't always deliberately restrained his charm, who knew if his other mothers-in-law back in the Primal Chaos hadn't already fallen for him?
"How disappointing. I really wanted to see if the Vermillion Bird's flames are truly as divine as the records claim," Yun Wuji said, but he did not continue the fight. Slowly, the golden flames around him dissipated.
He was indeed curious about the Vermillion Bird's flames, but only because he wanted to try fusing the three flames to see if he could restore the Pale Flame, the strongest flame in the universe. Only something of that level could even come close to being worthy of someone like him.
"If you are so curious about it, I can ignite the Vermilion Bird Flame upon you," Ling Xian chuckled. Stretching out her hand, she patted his shoulder and said, "Young one, you are so energetic and eager. You remind me of my old self. How enviable."
She too, in the past, had been arrogant, unwilling to endure the looks of disdain from her clansmen who looked down on her bloodline and impure body. She had rebelled against her clan and left them, believing she needed no one to stand on her own. Looking at Yun Wuji's arrogant and confident stance, she felt as if she were seeing her younger self in him.
"Remind you of your old self? I am not a woman," Yun Wuji chuckled as well. "I will take you up on your offer then." As he spoke, he took out the Primal Flame Crystal and handed it to her. "I don't really need this crystal. It will be of more use to you."
He had intended to give it to her regardless of the outcome of their fight. He had a large number of them, so handing her one was no big deal.
"Then I won't be polite," Ling Xian said, taking the Primal Flame Crystal and expressing her gratitude. "I owe you one."
At that moment, the figures of the three women came rushing toward them. Su Shang hurried over to Ling Xian and asked with concern, "Master, what happened?!"
"It's nothing significant. I lost to this young man," Ling Xian replied in a casual tone, patting Su Shang's hand that held hers.
"What?!!!"
...
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